The Best Laid Plans
by lowten
Summary: After Hermione's second year she is now stuck with cat ears and a tail. When she goes home her parents learn about her boyfriend Harry, how will this affect things going forward. A different storyline with a few twists along the way Will our hero prevail and if he can will he make it through unscathed? PoA year finished.
1. Chapter 1 - Journey to a crossroads

Preface

Hey, guys, this is going to be my first real attempt at writing a fic. I am severely dyslexic as well as an alphabet soup of other problems that don't help but i also have an amazing bata. i suggest giving this fic a solid 3 chapter try it took me a few chapters to get into writing. the first chapters are fairly short anyway.

I will say upfront this fic will be a Harry/Hermione/? I am keeping the third person a surprise for now but she won't be a part of the story in their third year, but I'll tell you now it won't be a Weasley. which is a good note to say there will be some Weasley bashing in this fic but nothing extreme I'm not going to recast them as black hats but they do have a tendency to make bad choices even in Canon. There will also be some Dumbledore bashing and some Hevey Dursely bashing

This fic will start on the train home after their second year, and there will at least be referenced (maybe more depending on how I feel writing it) to consensual underage sex between our main couple but that won't happen before they finish their third year.

So warnings this fic will contain: consensual under-age between in school teens [not adults], violence, descriptions of child abuse [durslys], torcher

Edit: this fic is my first attempt at writing and that is very evedent in the first few chapters. The flow of the story is a lot better from chapter seven on when I started working with a beta who took the time to help me improve.

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The sound of the train on the rails was the only thing disturbing the silence of their compartment. The two students were lost to the world as they rode aboard the Express as it whisked them back to the Muggle world for the next six weeks*. Harry Potter was doing all he could to focus on his bushy-haired girlfriend who was snuggled up next to him, and to not focus on the anxiety he felt over spending so much time in the 'care' of his aunt and uncle.

In all fairness, Hermione was doing an extremely good job of distracting him from his troubles. She had latched onto his side five minutes before and had refused to let go since, the gift he had given her that had sparked the impromptu cuddle time gripped tightly in her hand. The gift in question was a tartan hairband and a small cloth bag. Not much to look at on their own, but then that was the point. They needed to look normal so that no one would pay attention to them.

It had started last Christmas; it had been a rather simple plot to use Polyjuice potion to sneak into the Slytherin common room and find out who was targeting the Muggle-born students, before they killed someone or worse, got Hermione. It just went to show that even simple plans can go very wrong. They were unable to learn who was attacking students, unable to stop the attacks and worst of all, Hermione ended up petrified anyway. Oh, and thanks to a mishap with Hermione's potion his then friend, now girlfriend, was stuck with cat features.

It wasn't as bad as it could have been. At first, she had looked a lot more like a cat, but Madam Pomfrey, while being unable to reverse the effect entirely, had managed to restore most of Hermione's original, human features. She now only spotted cat ears and a tail, as well as a patch of fur that ran along her spine from the middle of her back down to her tail. The rest of her was back to normal, on the outside at least.

Harry didn't know all the details, but there had been some subtle, and some not-so-subtle, changes in his Hermione. A lot of it was easy to explain and dismiss, such as Hermione's preferred foods having shifted a bit. She doesn't dislike anything more than before but her fondness for fish, chicken and milk had gone up exponentially. Harry had noticed this, as before taking the potion, Hermione tended towards porridge and pumpkin juice for breakfast, but now she was beginning to alternate between that and kippers on toast* with a goblet of milk.

She also seemed to understand cats better. She couldn't talk to them like Harry could with snakes, but she seemed to be able to know what they wanted whenever they were around her. As such she had become quite popular with the cats in the Gryffindor tower. Hermione was also more of a hugger now. A lot more. Well, not so much more of a hugger than a longer hugger. At least with Harry. But then he was unsure if that one was a result of some cat instinct to snuggle into anything warm, or just a perk of their upgraded relationship. Either way, he wasn't complaining.

There were also the potions she now had to take regularly that she refused to tell him about, only saying that it was private and wasn't a problem. He had stopped asking after that but couldn't help but worry for her.

His worry had been one of the reasons behind the gifts. While they did nothing about whatever problem was leading to Hermione needing to visit the hospital wing every few weeks, it would help with her life outside of school and let Harry feel like he was doing something. The real gift had been the three small cloth bags, two of which were concealed in a tartan hair band. Each of the bags had an undetectable expansion charm on them. This meant that while wearing the hair band Hermione could easily and, most importantly, comfortably hide her cat ears even in the Muggle world. The third bag was loose and was to conceal her tail. With her gift and a few simple fashion choices, Hermione would hopefully be able to pass as normal in the muggle world, and not be stuck in her house for the whole summer hiding from everyone but her parents.

The compartment door opened, revealing the two youngest redheaded Weasleys. Ron and Ginny had barely been seen without each other since Ron and Harry had retrieved her from the Chamber of Secrets. The youngest Weasley had understandably latched on to her brother for support after everything that had happened to her, and after his fear of losing her that day, Ron was more than happy to be there for her.

If it hadn't been for Ron's reaction to Hermione's current appearance, the couple would have been happy to see them. As it was though the echoes of Ron's bullying of Hermione's feline attributes had had a huge strain on the friendship of the three. Harry and Ron had both stuck by Hermione in the beginning, but after two days Ron and Hermione's regular bickering had started back up. It wouldn't have been too bad but Ron had taken it too far, as per usual. He'd started making cat-based insults towards Hermione. This had gotten her so upset that Madam Pomfrey had banned Ron from the hospital wing.

That would have been the end of it but when Hermione was released from the hospital wing two weeks later the three were informed by Professor McGonagall that for brewing an illegal potion the three would be spending the next six Saturdays with her in detention. Ron had started complaining loudly to anyone who would listen, claiming that it was Hermione's fault that the three of them had gotten the stack of detentions, and then for Gryffindor losing the Quidditch cup because one of the detentions was the day of the match, leaving Harry unable to play.

That had pretty much been the end of the three's friendship. Hermione was sick of Ron insulting her and Harry couldn't believe he would single out Hermione as being the only one at fault. They had all agreed to the plan from the start; Ron had even known the potion was illegal. That would've probably ended their friendship for good if Harry and Ron hadn't set everything aside to save Ginny.

After that their friendship was strained but back, and the three doubted that it would ever again be as strong as it was at the start of the year.

It was Ginny show spoke up first, after a moment of awkward silence, "Hey Harry", then with a stiff but polite nod to Hermione, "Hermione", before turning back to Harry, "I just wanted to say thank you again before we get to Kings Cross, for everything. And I...wanted to wish you a good summer."

Harry shifted in his seat, a little uncomfortable with being thanked for what he felt any decent person should have done, "don't worry about it… uh... how are you doing after.. you know...", even with how nervous he was, he couldn't miss the shadow that fell over her face for a few seconds, leaving the bags under her eyes and the strain on her face even more noticeable.

She wasn't sleeping well, that much Harry knew. He knew because most nights, at least for the last couple of weeks, Ginny had come been coming to the second year boys dorm in the middle of the night and climbing in with her brother. Harry had heard her many times; she'd been crying herself to sleep.

"I'm... doing better… it's just..." Before she could finish her brother pulled her in close and just held her, comforting her without a single word. He must have been doing something right, Harry thought, because Ginny relaxed a little and was able to collect her thoughts, "Hermione, I also wanted to apologize again…" Tears closely threatened the red-haired witch, "I'm so, so sorry, I should never have opened that bloody diary and because I was so stupid, you and Colin and others were hurt and it's all my fault." By the time Ginny had finished her run on apology she had lost the battle with her tears and was openly sobbing into Hermione's shoulder, who at this point had crossed the compartment and hugged the first year as much as she could.

"It's ok, It's ok. I don't blame you. It wasn't your fault. And I bet the others feel the same as well", the comforting words seemed to do little good, however, as Ginny sobbed even harder, "They hate me. They all hate me! Even Percy hates me for attacking Penelope, he thinks I attacked her because she is dating him."

Hermione continued to comfort her, letting the witch cry onto her shoulder as Ron stroked her and back, "Gin, Percy doesn't hate you. If he hated you, he wouldn't keep asking me how you are doing. He is worried about you, we all are."

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It took nearly ten minutes for them to help Ginny pick herself up. Ron and Hermione had done most of the heavy lifting as Harry didn't know what to say, but had done ok when he said that he "wished he knew what to say to help her feel better". Ginny and Ron had left after that to go, calm down and change into their Muggle clothes.

Harry and Hermione had changed as well. This was easy enough for Harry as he just pulled off his outer robes, revealing a baggy pair of jeans and a faded t-shirt that looked like Harry could've used it as a tent. Hermione however, had kicked him out of the compartment for twenty minutes while she changed. Apparently, Harry's gift had had the unintended consequence of making Hermione replan her whole outfit.

When Harry returned to the compartment, the full twenty minutes later, Hermione was wearing a Muggle tartan skirt and white polo shirt, as well as the hairband. Harry assumed that she was also wearing the bag over her tail as he couldn't see her tail anywhere. He inwardly grinned at her appearance; his girlfriend would be beautiful to him, no matter what 'extra' features she may have.

The two chatted about their plans for the summer, or lack thereof in Harry's case, and all too soon for Harry's liking the Hogwarts Express pulled in to platform 9 ¾. With all the enthusiasm of a condemned man Harry pulled his and Hermione's trunks down, bracing himself for the hell he was going to have to live with for the foreseeable future. Hermione took advantage of her last opportunity to do magic for weeks and cast a charm to lighten the trunks. That the charm was a third-year one didn't seem to matter to her nor did it surprise Harry that she knew it, she always had her nose half-buried inside a book, and he wasn't surprised she learnt more than him from them.

They each carried their trunks off the train to the line of carts that were waiting for the students who should depart the platform the Muggle way. They put their trunks on a cart with Hedwig on top and set off into King's Cross, the Muggle world and their families.

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Authors notes

*Six weeks - in the UK summer holidays from school are only 6 weeks long. I have seen some stories give ridiculous lengths of time for the summer but most seem to use what I think is the American standard of 8 weeks but to be true to the setting it's only 6

*Kippers - kippers are smoked herring (an oily type of fish) and yes in the UK they are a breakfast food


	2. Chapter 2 confessions of a teen cat girl

Hermione was just finishing unpacking her trunk, and was working through what she needed to do: shelving her books; sorting her clothes, putting the clean ones away and putting the dirty ones, that the magic of Hogwarts haven't cleaned yet, in the hamper; and setting her photos of her parents and other nick nacks in their proper places.

The drive home had been filled with Hermione asking her parents how their year had been. Now that they were home she was expecting to be called downstairs for what she jokingly thought of as her interrogation. It had become a sort of tradition; on her first evening home from Hogwarts, Her parents would pick up a take-away* that broke all their rules about healthy eating and sugary drinks. Then, over the distractingly enticing dinner they would talk about what had happened while she was away at school.

It wasn't long before she heard her mum call for her. Hermione made her way to the dining room to find her parents at the table, ready with pizza and fried chicken, all steaming hot waiting for her. Hermione sat and served herself, savouring the unhealthy food that was a rare treat at home. In fact, now that she thought about it, it had been almost a year since she had last eaten pizza. It wasn't in the Hogwarts meal rotation that tended to favor classic British food, and she hadn't left Hogwarts at all this year.

"So, Kitten", her father then winced at his phrasing. He had used the old nickname on reflex and immediately regretted it, worried how his daughter would take it. Hermione, however, was laughing at his reaction to his own perceived faux pas*. After getting herself under control she grinned back at him, "it's ok dad, you can still call me kitten. You have been doing it for as long as I can remember…I'd miss it if you stopped."

"Ok, then...kitten", he seemed decidedly uncomfortable with using the nickname now, "in the letters we received from you and McGonagall, who says she's your Head of House, we were expecting to see cat ears and a tail, but I don't, so did they find a cure...or did your teachers hide them for you?"

Hermione finished chewing her bite of pizza; the toppings were a favorite she shared with her mum, which were ham, mushrooms, pineapple and prawns. "They are hidden, but it was Harry who found a way to hide them. Not one of the teachers. He gave me this hair band today, the spells on it give me somewhere to put the ears. There is also a similar item for my tail." She hesitated a second, then, checking that the curtains were closed and seeing that it was safe as they were alone, Hermione removed the hair band, revealing the brown and blond tabby cat ears for her parents to see.

Hermione sat there, waiting to hear what her parents would say. They sat in silence for what was probably only about thirty seconds, but they were the longest seconds of her life. Waiting for them to pass judgment on her. Would they think her a freak? Would they disown the monster she had become? Would they insist that she stop coming home from school at Christmas and Easter? Just do their job until they could kick her out once she finished school?

The anxiety-driven thoughts were driven from her head just as quickly when her mum spoke up finally, "Your ears look lovely dear", with just those five words, Hermione relaxed immensely, feeling a tension she hadn't known she carried slip away, "Is your tail the same colour?"

Hermione's head bounced up and down, "Yes, I would show you, but taking the bag off my tail is difficult in this skirt", it would also have been embarrassing, the high waist meant that the only way her tail could go was down. This was fine most of the time, but if she got happy or angry her tail tended to shoot up, and that was the last thing she wanted while in a skirt.

"Did you say bag, Honey?" Her mother seemed a bit confused. Hermione slipped into her lecture mode as she explained to her parents about the three bags and how two of them were concealed in the hair band and how each of the bags had an undetectable expansion charm on them, that created extradimensional space inside the bags. Her parents caught on quickly and soon the whole family were having fun making Doctor who references.

"So, Hermione, you mentioned a few other changes in your letters. I think me and your mum need to hear them all", the joking was over and they were back to the main topic. "Well...you know about the ears and tail. The ears give me better hearing. It's not magic, it's just that the ears are so big compared to normal ears. My taste in food changed a little, I like fish, chicken, milk and cheese more now", her parents nodded along; the cheese part was new to them but Hermione had already mentioned in her letters about how her taste in food had changed. Mr Granger had already added a few tins* of different types of fish to the shopping when he picked up the groceries a few days ago. "I also understand cats better. I just seem to know what they are trying to tell me", Hermione hesitated for a second, thinking about something else, before saying, "that's it."

Her parents looked at each other, silently debating whether to push. One of the letters they had gotten from Hermione's Head of House had mentioned their daughter was now taking a potion once a month to manage some other aspect of her transformation. Her mother, who had a suspicion about it just what was about, suggested waiting when her husband spoke up, "Hermione we know there's more. Your Professor mentioned a potion you now need to take. Now tell us everything", he usually wasn't this harsh, but he was concerned for his daughter and to help her, he needed to know what was the problem.

Hermione sat in her seat fidgeting nervously. It wasn't that she was keeping it from her parents, just that she didn't want to talk about such things with her dad. It had been bad enough when Harry had asked about the potion, but she could tell Harry to drop it and he would listen. She knew that he was still worried about her, but he had relaxed a lot when she promised him it was nothing dangerous.

And it really wasn't, but how do you tell your new twelve-year-old boyfriend that the potion you are taking is to stop you from losing control and jumping him every month?

She definitely wasn't ready to have that conversation with Harry and she didn't think Harry was ready for it either. And Hermione really wasn't ready to talk to her dad about it, "Um…dad, it's...", Hermione was trying to work out a way to phrase things when her mother came to her rescue, "Hermione honey, is this a mother-daughter discussion?" Hermione blushed, nodded and suddenly found a bit of lint in her lap very interesting, so interesting that she missed that her father was just as suddenly interested in one of the pictures on the wall. Her mother smiled at two of them; they were so alike at times.

The discussion moved on swiftly; the talk about the potion postponed until later, when the two Granger women could talk alone. They asked about Hermione's classes and how she thought she had done on her end of year tests. The two of them had found it odd that the Headmaster had canceled the end of year tests; they knew that some of them were rather important, the magical equivalent of O and A levels, so surely they couldn't just be canceled? Hermione thought that the people sitting their O. and their N.E. would have to do them over the summer., but agreed it sounded like a lot of hassle.

The dinner continued for a while longer; the three of them just enjoying being back together as a family, if only for the summer holidays.

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Hermione had just finished getting ready for bed and was about to go brush her teeth (she may have skipped the odd day here and there while she was at Hogwarts but she knew that she wouldn't get away with that at home) when her mum came in to her room, surprisingly carrying two large bowls of what looked to be chocolate caramel-swirl ice-cream. "Got time for a girly chat?" Hermione eyed the bowls of her own personal ice-cream nirvana suspiciously, her mother didn't usually indulge in such unhealthy treats, "I think I could maybe find some time".

The two of them sat cross-legged on Hermione's bed, each holding a bowl but the older of the two still holding on to the spoons, "So...fun questions first. It's _boyfriend _Harry now, not _best friend _Harry. what's the story there?" Her mum asked, grinning as she handed over Hermione's spoon. A smile came over Hermione's face as she remembered that happy moment, "it was in the hospital wing after Christmas. Ron and I had had a falling out over his legendary lack of tact. So at that point, it was only Harry coming to see me regularly. Lav and Pav popped in occasionally but Harry was there every day right up until curfew. Classes had started back up and Harry was helping me keep on top of everything, since I was unable to make it to classes."

Hermione stopped talking for a bit to sample the ice-cream and gave a slight moan of pleasure. "Then Madam Pomfrey asked me to make a decision on something. She asked if I wanted to keep the cat eyes or change them back to normal. I chose to change them back; dad always said my eyes are like grandad's so I wanted to keep them. Anyway, to change them back I needed to take a potion every morning for six days. That was fine as I was already taking a lot of potions, so what was one more? Only...this one had a noticeable side effect.

While my eyes were changing my vision was blurry. I could see well enough to know if someone was there, or to walk to the bathroom and back, but I couldn't read, which you know would've been a problem for me. I was a little upset about that particular thing, and then Harry turns up about an hour later. It was a Saturday. And, he was with some of my favorite books. I told him that I couldn't read them because my eyes where being fixed, and that he may as well take them away. He looked at me for a few seconds and I couldn't see the look on his face, but I just know he had that smirk of his on his face, then he just sat down in the chair next to me and pulled out my copy of 'The Hobbit' and started reading it out loud to me."

Hermione paused to take another mouthful of ice-cream and her mother jumped in, "So let me get this straight; you were stuck without your books for a week and Harry just started reading them to you", Hermione nodded slowly, her mouth still full of ice-cream,"Oh god, the poor boy is doomed. Only you would find love through reading, kitten." Hermione giggled, then continued on after swallowing her bite, "well after about five hours in that chair I realized Harry had to be uncomfortable...so", she paused for a second wondering how her mother would take it, "I-I moved him up onto the bed with me." Seeing her mother beginning to smirk, she powered on with her tale;

"Before you say _anything _, the beds are adult-sized so the two of us fit quite comfortably. He came back every day to keep reading the books to me. Unlike some of the others I showed my muggle books, he was completely fine with them. I guess it was cause he grew up a muggle like me. We were two-thirds of the way through 'Return of the King' before I was able to see normally again, but Harry hates to leave a job unfinished, and he kept reading to me till he finished.

Over the six days, I wasn't used to things being a bit different from my accident. Apparently, the cat hair I used in the potion came from an adult cat, well, Kneazle. Which is a type of magical cat which is why I couldn't be changed back all the way. The Kneazle magic, portion magic and my magic all got mixed up in a knot and won't come undone", She took a deep breath, "And I am so glad it was a girl cat, that could have lead to problems I don't even want to think about." Her mother's face went a little green as she thought of the possibilities. At this point, Hermione began blushing profusely, "But anyway...as the cat was an _adult, _it...well...I guess you could say I'm more 'interested' in boys than I normally should be..." Hermione was burning so hot by now that she was surprised she hadn't melted the ice-cream in her lap.

"So Harry was next to me, and after a few days, it just felt natural to snuggle up next to him. And too easy to dismiss it as a cat thing to cuddle up to something warm. One thing just sort of led to the next, and before I left the hospital wing we were a couple-" Her mother abruptly interrupted Hermione and asked cautiously, "and just _what _exactly did it lead to?" Her tone was conspiratorial, like two girlfriends gossiping. She didn't want Hermione to close her off, but inside she was of course a worrying mum. Just how far had her thirteen-year-old daughter gone with her boyfriend?

"Well, let's just say Harry is a good kisser. A _really _good kisser..." Mrs Granger relaxed immensely; while she still felt her daughter was a bit young, it sounded as though they had kept their clothes on at the very least. But there was more, "But, that kiss is what lead to Madam Pomfrey putting me on the potion dad asked about." That sparked her mother's interest, she had been intending to ask about that after hearing about Harry, but it seemed that they had reached the topic naturally.

"She felt that it was out of character for me to be kissing Harry quite so quickly and did some checking she hadn't thought about till then." Hermione was now in a constant state of embarrassment, her blush reaching shades her mother hadn't seen since she had talked to her about being prepared for her monthly 'visitor'. "It turns out I now go into heat like a cat and because the cat was an adult I have been thrown in at the deep end. The potion tones down the feelings I would have without it and lets me act more normally."

Emma didn't know what to say; her daughter was embarrassed and obviously dealing with some real issues. She'd gone from being a budding teen girl less than six months from her first monthly visit to having to deal with a full-blown sex drive practically overnight. She set the two half-finished bowls of ice-cream on Hermione's writing desk and crawled over to her daughter, pulling her into a hug. "It's Ok honey, we can cope with this. It's going to be fine. aAnyway, you love Harry anyway, right?" Hermione nodded numbly in her mother's arms and started crying, the last of the tension she had been holding for weeks finally finding an outlet.

They stayed like that for a while; the two replaying a scene as old as humanity, a Mother comforting her daughter on the cusp of leaving behind her childhood. After that, the two sat there talking for a good hour and a half, the Mother asking questions and doing the groundwork to help her Daughter cope with the new challenges that were waiting for her.

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Author's notes

take-away* British term for takeout

Faux pas - an embarrassing or tactless act or remark in a social situation.

tins - Brits say tins instead of cans


	3. Chapter 3 - The Summer From Hell

Harry lay on his bed atop the threadbare blanket, his head resting on a pillow that had lost all of its bounce as he stared up at the ceiling. He was not having a good day. Hell, he wasn't having a good summer at all. After his uncle had collected him off the train the 'summer of hell' had started almost straight away, with Vernon informing Harry that his sister, the woman Harry had been forced to call aunt Marge, was at the house. Apparently, after something had gone wrong with her plumbing it had revealed that some emergency work was needed on her house, so while the work was being done aunt Marge had invited herself to stay.

This had not left aunt Petunia happy. His aunt had entered Harry's rose bushes in some local garden competition (he refused to call them aunt Petunia's rose's in his head as he was the one who did all the work before he started Hogwarts). Marge had brought her prized bulldog 'Ripper' with her and Ripper seemed to be deeply offended by the flowers and was doing his best to defile them. Uncle Vernon had then taken great delight in telling Harry of the rules for the summer, as well as how he had told Marge that his "no good, pathetic excuse for a nephew" was so bad he had been sent to 'St Brutus' school for incurably criminal boys', and, specifically, that if Harry so much as hinted at anything else his uncle would make him regret it.

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_Uncle Vernon pulled the car onto the driveway. The two got out of the car without talking only to find Harry's 'Aunt' Marge standing on the doorstep. She was very like Uncle Vernon; large, beefy and purple-faced, she even had a mustache, though not as bushy as his.'*_

_She started in on Harry before he even got to the front door, "so your back are you?" Not even waiting for a reply, she continued on, this time to her brother, "why even let the boy out Vernon? Surely that 'school' is the best place for him?" Her less than subtle emphasis on the word school left no doubt that she was referring to the ridiculous fabrication of his uncle. "Teacher's need time off", Vernon replied gruffly as he opened the boot for Harry to retrieve his trunk._

_"What's in the trunk boy?" Aunt Marge demand, obviously looking for something to criticize, "Oh...Um...just my school things. School uniform, homework, paper, pens...that sort of thing." Harry replied, automatically concentrating more on getting the heavy trunk out of the car then having a less than pleasant conversation with his aunt. Marge mulled that over for a few moments, looking for something else to scold, but evidently coming home from a boarding school with luggage and homework was expected. So, Aunt Marge fell back on her favourite insult, which was also a favourite of the two Dursley adults. Namely, calling him lazy and questioning his work ethic. "Well, you best take your trunk up to your room! No excuses for not getting your homework done! At least while you are doing that you aren't off trying to break into cars or whatever it is you do!"_

_Harry froze and looked at his uncle. He knew Vernon didn't want him to have his school things, he didn't want Harry to do his homework. But, most of all, he didn't want Harry to have access to his wand. Not that Harry's wand was in his trunk. After everything that had happened the last two years, he had owl ordered a wand holster, and as such his wand was stuck to his arm and hidden with a perception filter charm. "Don't go looking to your uncle for help, boy! Get that trunk upstairs now!" His uncle, now standing behind Marge, nodded and mouthed 'for now'. Harry guessed that he couldn't think of an excuse on the spot to lock Harry's trunk away and had decided to pretend it was perfectly normal until he could think up something that wouldn't leave his sister suspicious._

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After that, there had been the start of the whole thing with Hedwig. While Marge had accepted Vernon's excuse that at Brutus' they required pets to teach the boys responsibility, she still complained that her bulldog Ripper didn't like birds and that he was 'sensitive'. Sensitive was apparently code for 'evil little shit', at least that was Harry's opinion. He'd taken Hedwig straight to his room and set up a perch for her by removing the bars from her cage. It was crude but serviceable. He had just gone downstairs to ask Vernon if there were any old newspapers he could line her cage with, (there were always some as his uncle was an avid reader of the Daily Express. Harry, however, always remembered what he heard a comedian say about it once "well at least they are true to their advertising, the paper is daily and clearly written in a hurry), when there was a huge racket from his bedroom.

Ripper had snuck into Harry's room when Harry left the door open and was trying to jump up on top of the wardrobe where Hedwig had retreated to avoid the snapping jaws of her attacker. Harry grabbed the dog to pull it out of the room and away from his owl. He had been able to pull the dog out but had received a bite on his right arm for his trouble. The door now closed and Hedwig safe, Harry now turned his attention solely to keeping Ripper's teeth from ripping into him again. This was not as quiet he'd hoped, as evidenced by the three sets of feet thundering up the stairs.

Harry felt sick just thinking about their reactions. First up the stars had been his uncle, who just stood there watching. Marge came next and the bitch fucking laughed and encouraged the dog. It wasn't until Aunt Petunia had seen the blood that she said anything. But, not surprisingly, it wasn't to protect Harry, no, she was more concerned about Harry getting blood on the carpet.

God, He hated it here.

Aunt Petunia threw a toilet roll and a Crepe Bandage at him and told him to make sure not to get blood everywhere. Harry retreated to his room and sat on the bed. He made two pads out of the toilet paper, one for each side of his arm, and held them in place with the bandage. His arm seen to, it was time to strengthen out the room. He reset Hedwig's cage, then set about the task of coaxing her down off the wardrobe. Seeing his friend so shaken, Harry held her close, "It's Ok Hedwig, it's Ok. I promise I won't let him hurt you. Only a few more weeks before we can get out of this shithole."

-ϟϟϟ-

The next few weeks had been filled with cooking, cleaning, dodging his cousin (who'd arrived back from smeltings the next day), and trying to do something to help the roses survive Ripper. This was easier than it might have been, as the dog had stopped caring about the roses. Instead, the bulldog was constantly camped outside Harry door trying to get in at Hedwig. Harry had been bitten three times more by the dog so far and he seriously doubted it would be his last this summer.

If that wasn't enough, he was seriously missing Hermione. To be fair, he was missing any friendly contact. His friendship with Ron was strained and almost everyone else cared little for Harry, only for the-boy-who-lived, some mythical hero they'd built up to some impossible standard that no one could ever live up to, let alone a small, underwhelming and bespectacled boy. All this and the fact that Hermione filled both the role of best friend and girlfriend meant that Harry was feeling rather alone.

It hadn't helped that since becoming a couple the two of them had been practically inseparable, never spending more than ten hours away from each other, even if most of that time they were asleep. It wasn't entirely their fault; they eat their food in the same hall, went to the same classes, studied in the same library and relaxed and slept in the same tower. Even when they weren't working together or chatting they tended to be in the same space. The only real time they spent truly apart was when Harry was practising quidditch (Hermione only went to games, not practices) or when Harry was forced to go to classes while Hermione had been stuck in the hospital wing, once from the polyjuice and once from that bloody great big snake.

Even when Hermione had been petrified he had made his way to the hospital wing each day, telling Hermione about the classes he had had that day, then reading more of her books to her on the off chance she could hear him. Staying till Madame Pomfrey kicked him out for the day. He still wasn't sure if Madam Pomfrey let him stay for Hermione's benefit or his own. He definitely felt, well...not better, but less helpless as he sat there reading the 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' series to her. Just thinking of Hermione in that state lead his mind to another dark place. He couldn't believe that Hermione had had the answer in her hand and that he had spent days sitting next to it the whole time. That damned snake, he wanted to bring it back to life just so he could kill it again for what it had done. The thought of that it sent phantom pains through the crux of his right elbow, a remembered pain of the venom burning its way into his flesh.

God, he hated summer.

-ϟϟϟ-

July 31st

Harry awoke on his birthday like it was any other day at Privet Drive, with his aunt banging on the door and telling him to go cook breakfast. Harry wasn't surprised if he was lucky no one would say anything about him now being officially a teenager. Then he could pretend they had just forgotten, instead of deliberately doing it to hurt him.

He finished getting dressed; pulling on a lumpy old pair of Dudley's socks that he had grown out of about two years ago, a ratty old pair of trainers that he had grown out of at about the same time. Then he was off to cook enough bacon and fried eggs to feed a small platoon, or just three Dursleys. Aunt Petunia would have just tea and toast with whatever spread she chose that morning, if she stuck to her pattern.

Harry grabbed a package of 24 slices of British back bacon from the fridge, laying out the whole pack on the grilling rack and starting them to cook. He set the largest cast iron skillet on the hob, adding what he considered an obsessive amount of lard to the pan and set it on low heat. He put four slices of bread in the toaster, two cans of beans in a tub in the microwave and filled the kettle to boil the water for tea and coffee. Aunt Petunia as always was the first to come down, and her tea was already in the teapot and her toast cooking when she sat at the table.

"Marmite." No please, no thanks, just the one word. Not that Harry expected anything else as he grabbed the tar-like paste from the fridge, setting it next to the plate that was waiting for his aunt's toast. Soon everyone was down and the Dursleys were eating. Breakfast done, Harry made his way upstairs, finally able to take care of needing the bathroom and brushing his teeth. As he cleaned his teeth he smiled to himself, thinking of the lecture Hermione had given him on dental hygiene.

It was rather an interesting topic that showed the difference between Muggle and Magical cultures. Muggles couldn't really fix teeth, they could only add a hard substance to fake a tooth being there, such as fillings and false teeth. So muggles focused on prevention, pastes and brushes to stop there being a problem in the future. Magical folk, however, they just used charms to keep their mouths smelling and tasting fine. This did nothing to remove the problem though, but if a witch or wizard had a bad tooth that was easy enough to fix; just vanish the tooth and down a shot of Skele-Gro. 6 hours later and they have a new, perfectly healthy tooth.

Harry made his way back to the kitchen to clean up after breakfast and to see if there were any leftovers so that he could eat this morning. To his surprise, there were two pieces of bacon and a slice of toast. Hardly a feast but plenty for him. He cleaned up the plates and mugs and grabbed the plate with the toast and bacon on it to put it on top of the pile of dishes he was taking back to the kitchen.

"One second, Harry" He froze at Aunt Marge's words, hesitated for a second then turned back to her. She smiled at Harry, then took the bacon and folded the toast around it and fed it to the dog in her lap. She had done this on purpose, she had left the food there till he had seen it, just so she could take it away in front of him. Harry wanted to scream, he wanted to shout, he wanted to take the pile of dishes he was carrying and smash them over her fucking head. But, he knew that was exactly what she wanted. Instead, he did the only thing he could to strike out at her. He denied her the confrontation she wanted by smiling at her, somewhat viciously, "anything else Aunt Marge?"

-ϟϟϟ-

Later the same day

Aunt Marge definitely wasn't happy with how things went at breakfast. She had been pushing all day to get a rise out of Harry, ramping up the pressure each time. Now the Dursleys were sitting down to dinner, again cooked by Harry. Dudley had had the brilliant idea to get at Harry; he'd asked for shepherd's pie and treacle tart for dinner. This was probably Harry's favourite meal, and despite the fact that both dishes were of the classic British variety; namely heavy, rich, hot and very filling and an absolute godsend when it was cold and wet, they were being consumed in the totally unsuited summer heat. So they sat there eating Harry's favorite meal, while Harry hasn't had a bite of food all-day on this thirteenth birthday.

Then there was the dinner conversation he had to listen to, "You mustn't blame yourself for the way the boy's turned out, Vernon", Marge said between shoveling meat and potatoes into her mouth, "If there's something rotten on the inside, there's nothing anyone can do about it." Harry's hands shook even as his face remained impassive though he longed to burn them with his anger, and magic. She wanted him to fight. He had to keep his cool. Don't rise to it, "It's one of the basic rules of breeding," she continued on, definitely oblivious to Harry's rising temper, "You see it all the time with dogs. If there's something wrong with the bitch, there'll be something wrong with the pup."

How fucking dare she! She had never even met his mother, the woman who had literally given up everything, including her life, for Harry. Aunt Marge reached for her glass of wine, only to have the glass explode in her hand, the shards of glass cutting into her flesh. Harry watched as blood began to ooze from numerous small cut on the inside of her hand. Luckily, Marge just laughed it off, "Sorry about your glass Petunia. I have a strong grip. Let me just go sort my hand out. BOY! Clean up the glass, if even one shard ends up in my poor Rippy's paw there will be hell to pay.

Her threat finished, she left for the upstairs bathroom, her hellhound in step behind her. As soon as she was out of sight, Vernon turned on Harry. "You dare use your abnormality to attack my sister!?" He was out of his chair and was pulling off his belt. "I di-didn't", Harry stuttered, "T-that wasn't me." The belt was in Vernon's hands now, "BULLSHIT! I know your freakishness when I see it", Harry had backed into a corner of the room trying to put as much distance between him and his raging uncle as the room allowed. Searing pain flashed over Harry's back and shoulder as the strip of black leather found its mark. Again and again, the blows fell onto Harry's left side, feeling like it was on fire as uncounted blood vessels where broken under the improvised whip.

Harry cowered in the corner, trying to react as little as possible to the beating, though some tears and pained moans still escaped from him. He had learned over the years that they were longer if he screamed. Then everything changed.

There was a loud screech of pain and everyone stopped. It wasn't Harry's scream. It wasn't even on this floor of the house and, it wasn't human. "HEDWIG!" The blood drained from Harry's face. Now he could see what had happened; Marge had broken the glass on purpose. She had done it so that Harry would be busy cleaning while she went upstairs and let Ripper into his room where Hedwig was sleeping.

Harry got up and tried to rush to the stairs, only to be grabbed by his uncle. His uncle opened his mouth to start yet another of his verbal tirades, though unfortunately for Vernon Harry was now too focused on his owl that he was no longer concerned with holding his power in check. As a result of delaying the desperate boy, Vernon was relocated to the far side of the room, where he suddenly found himself being reintroduced to his wall with a sickening pop and crack from his shoulder and arm.

Harry was up the stairs in a flash. He tried to push open his door, Hedwig's continued screeches calling him to help, but the door wouldn't open. He tried again but the door wouldn't budge. Then he saw it; Aunt Marge had locked one of the seven locks that were on the door, a relic of the last summer Harry had spent in this hellhole. She had also added a padlock. Harry's mind raged and his power responded, rushing out to unblock his path, exploding the door and some of the surrounding masonry that was keeping him from Hedwig.

If Harry had been paying attention, he would have seen Marge standing in the bathroom, the door wide open, watching. The sadistic women wearing the biggest shit-eating grin she had ever worn. As Harry pulled on the door to try and get in finding it locked she mouthed the words "got you". Her triumph, however, was soon replaced by terror as at a gesture from Harry, the door exploded into shrapnel. The shrapnel that resembled matchsticks more than anything else and was suddenly filling the landing.

The sight that greeted Harry as the door disintegrated chilled him to the bone. Hedwig's pale white feathers were scattered around the room, her blood staining them, the ruby crimson standing out all the more due to the contrast. And there, in the middle of the room, a screeching Hedwig, her wing trapped in the jaws of her attacker.

Harry couldn't have held back if he tried, Hedwig wasn't just his pet and post owl. She was a magical creature and his familiar. And part of that bond was that his magic couldn't stand by and let her be hurt. While a more experienced wizard may have been able to direct the response more, Harry, with only two years of education under his belt, was just along for the ride. Harry felt the power in him flow, reaching out towards the dog, prying its jaws off the injured wing and freeing his friend. The offending mut was then thrown across the room through the door and into the opposite wall with a meaty thunk, where it slumped to the floor, never again to rise.

Seeing her prized bulldog stud die so suddenly cut through Marge's shock, fear and the rational parts of her brain. Marge charged at Harry, intending to hurt him for what he had done to her dog. But Harry still hadn't regained control of his magic yet. In fact, he was so worried about Hedwig he hadn't even tried. Hell, he was so worried about her, he didn't even know that he was being attacked. He would later find out that he had stuck his aunt to the ceiling with some accidental magic variation of a permanent sticking charm.

Harry now cradled his friend in his arms, tears freely flowing at the state of her wing. He stood, keeping Hedwig in his arms and just started walking, down the stairs, out the door, down the street. He had only a vague plan. Find a vet, get Hedwig to Diagon alley, there had to be someone there who could help. The problem was, without Hedwig he couldn't call for help from anyone. He had little Muggle money and he was down to his last 5 gallons till he got to Gringotts. He would use the Muggle money to get as close to London as possible. Then he would try and get the rest of the way as fast as he could, even if he had to walk.

He really needed Hermione right now. Hermione would know what to do. There would be a public floo access she had read about or a post owl office that he could use to call for help. Hermione would also probably know a better place to take Hedwig than a magical pet shop. Right now he just needed help.

It was then that Harry's magic decided to pull one more trick out of its hat tonight. He felt the flow of his power as it surrounded him, then started crushing him into a ball. Not painfully, but definitely not comfortable. Later, when Harry heard about Apparition training and the three D's, he would always add his own fourth; destination, determination, deliberation and lastly, desperation. He would also realize that he was incredibly lucky that all he left behind was his shirt, and not some part of himself.

That was how Harry appeared in the Grangers' dining Room, covered in belt marks, bruising and dog bites. Nothing to hide it from the three sitting down to dinner, but an owl with a mangled wing and her blood that was covering him. Seeing the one person who he thought could help Harry relaxed, "Hermione."

"Harry?!" With that one word from Hermione's lips, all the will and adrenaline that was keeping Harry going, allowing him to push forward despite the lack of food and heavy use of magic gave way and Harry's last act of will was to turn as he fell, ensuring that Hedwig would land atop him, not the other way around, as he slipped into unconsciousness.

-ϟϟϟ-

Author's Notes

From now on, all flashbacks will be in italics, so that you'll be able to see that it's not at the same time as the story.

ok, I admit I hated myself a little when I had Harry made that promise to Hedwig knowing what was going to happen. I originally intended for ripper and marge to put up a stronger fight at the end of the chapter but this felt more right as I wrote it.

a few small parts are lifted directly from the prisoner of Azkaban

P.S props to anyone who can name the comedian who made the Daily Express joke I used.


	4. Chapter 4 - meeting the parents

Chapter 4: Meeting the parents

1st August

Harry woke up feeling warm, uncomfortable and exhausted. He just wanted to go back to sleep but something was wrong, he just didn't know what. He opened his eyes to see if that would give him a clue. Was he in the hospital wing again? He felt bad enough. But the sight that greeted him was definitely not the hospital wing. He was in a bedroom. Not his bedroom or one he recognized.

He looked around the room; there were some clothes that had obviously been set out for him. A pair of workout trousers and a plain t-shirt that, while not sized to fit him, were a lot closer to his physique than the hand-me-downs he got from his cousin. It was then he noticed that his clothes were gone, also that the bites he had from Ripper had been dressed, and then redressed. His heart leapt into his mouth as he also found his wand holster, and wand, were missing.

Harry then started recalling the events from the day before, but they were fuzzy. He remembered seeing Hedwig hurt and covered in blood. He looked around for her but couldn't see her. His chest tightened again, painfully; he couldn't handle this amount of stress. He hoped she was getting help, but this looked like a muggle house.

He dressed in the clothes and went to see if he could find out where he was. He tried the first door he came to; It seemed to be a girls bedroom. Not useful at the moment, so he moved on. The next room was the room of what looked to be a married couple, and it was a lot neater than the previous room. The third room he tried proved to be just as useless to his current predicament, though knowing where the bathroom was wasn't bad knowledge.

All that was left were the stairs, so down Harry went, still searching for any sign of magic in this muggle house. He soon found himself in a kitchen/ dining room. There was a woman who he didn't know, but she did look vaguely familiar to him, a passing face he'd seen before maybe?

"Uh...Hello?" The woman, who sat at the large dining table flipping through numerous pages of printed muggle paperwork. looked up at him, before smiling widely. "Oh. Good morning, Harry", so this woman knew his name, he tried to rack his brain to work out where he had seen her before but all he was getting for his efforts was a headache.

Deciding that 'boldly forward' was the best way here he just asked, "Sorry, I don't want to be rude, but can you tell me who you are? You look familiar but I don't know from where. And can you please tell me what happened to my owl and my things?" Harry tried to be as polite as he could but thought that he may not have managed that well.

The unknown woman did not seem to take offence however, "No problem. I am Dr Emma Granger, and I'm a dental surgeon. You've probably seen me somewhere before; I am Hermione's mother." That was why she was familiar; this was Hermione's mum, Harry had seen her in passing a few times at King's Cross. Now that she mentioned the relationship with her daughter, he could see her resemblance to Hermione...or was that Hermione's resemblance to her?

Harry didn't want to think about it too much, else the headache would return. Mrs Granger continued, "as for your things, Hermione has your wand and your clothes, what little you had were beyond saving I'm afraid. As for Hedwig, who is lovely by the way, she is always so nice whenever she delivers one of Hermione's letters..." Harry remembered vaguely Hedwig's instance at carrying Hermione's mail as well. "She is on her way to Diagon Alley with Hermione and my husband Dan. She is going to be fine."

Harry sighed in relief, finally managing to relax a little for the first time all summer. Now that he knew she was Hermione's mum and that his familiar was safe, he looked a little more closely at Mrs Granger. Hermione definitely didn't take after her mum, but there was something about the eyes, the set of her jaw and the way she held her shoulders that were definitely present in her daughter. Harry also noticed a similarity about her ears that Hermione had lost to the potions accident.

Now that Harry had a better idea of where he was, he wondered how he had gotten there. How did he just...appear in Hampstead in London? He had a vague recollection of trying to get to London, but how did find Hermione's home? He didn't know the address, just the general location. "Do you know how I got here? I don't remember..." Mrs Granger looked at him sympathetically, "We don't know that much Harry. You just appeared with a loud crack just a few feet from where you are standing last night, shirtless, covered in dog bites and blood, with Hedwig in your arms. Then you passed out."

She paused for a second looking like she was contemplating whether to say more, "A wizard from the...Department of Magical Law Enforcement? Yeah, he came. He said something about underage magic and the Statute of Secrecy. But, when he saw your injuries he said something about exceptions and that he needed to do an investigation. He asked us if you could stay here for the night and that he would be back tonight to get a statement from you."

Harry wondered how much trouble he was in. He knew that using magic was Ok in an emergency, but Uncle Vernon was good at blaming Harry, very good. Harry remembered a few teachers who had taken an interest in his clothes over the years and how Uncle Vernon convinced them it was Harry's fault. He had little doubt that by the time the DMLE came back the story would be his Uncle defending his family from 'mad wizard' Harry. If the last year had taught him anything it was that people were more than willing to think the worst of him.

Mrs Granger interrupted his brooding, "There is some breakfast for you in the microwave. Hermione put together a plate for you before she left." Harry wasn't expecting to eat; it was just his mindset by now. "T-thank you." Harry found the microwave, and inside was a bowl containing some yoghurt, fruit and muesli. Mrs Granger told him where to find the cutlery and he collected some, then gingerly sat at the dining table with her.

He started eating, slowly picking his way through the food, each bite eagerly anticipated by his stomach yet difficult to keep down. It was always the same after so long without much of any food. Noticing Harry's slow pace Mrs Granger frowned, in a concerned motherly way, "Is everything Ok? I know a lot of families don't eat as healthy as us. I let Hermione prepare your breakfast because I thought she should know better than me what you like."

Harry looked up, "It's fine, Perfect in fact. These are the same fruits I put on my breakfast at school. I just didn't think Hermione paid that close of attention to what I eat. I mean, yeah, I know she gives me the 'I'm disappointed in you and you should feel bad' look if I put too much sugar in my morning porridge or if I have bacon and eggs more than once a week, but I didn't think she noticed the fruit I put in my porridge."

Mrs Granger smiled at her daughter's antics, "Hermione bullies you into eating porridge instead of sugary cereals, Harry?" Harry only just managed to avoid embarrassing himself by laughing with his mouth full in front of his girlfriend's mother. He swallowed carefully before speaking again, "I would say it's more the drafty old castle, in Scotland, during the winter, that bullies me into eating porridge", Harry smiled, "there is a reason the Scots eat a lot of it."

Mrs Granger wondered out loud, "Is the castle really that cold?" Harry thought about it, "The magic in the castle does affect a lot of things, so yes and no. The corridors and entranceways are pretty open so they can be freezing cold. The rest, the classrooms, great hall, common rooms and dorms, however, are nice and warm."

Harry had by now finished his first meal in about two days. And the first one that was a full portion in almost a week...Harry started to feel a little better, if a little queasy. Now that he had a little more energy and sustenance in his body, his head was starting to get going again and Harry had a question. "Mrs Granger, why did Hermione take my wand?"

Apparently, the DMLE wizard had told the Grangers that Harry was suffering from magical exhaustion. He had warned them that if Harry did any magic for the next few days, he risked doing permanent damage to his magical potential. He had also said that as Harry was going to be at the centre of an investigation where he performed underage magic, it would look bad there as well. Hermione, after hearing all that, had simply walked up to Harry's sleeping form and taken his wand, effectively removing any temptation from him.

Harry was mostly aware that this was his first time meeting his girlfriend's mother, and tried to be at his best, 'tried' being a good word. He was tired; the bites, scratches and belt-marks were hurting and his stomach was queasy after breaking a long fast. He did his best and Mrs Granger seemed to understand. The two chatted about insignificant things until Harry gave in to his exhaustion, and yawned widely and loudly. Mrs Granger had then firmly sent him back up to the guest room to get some more sleep.

-ϟϟϟ-

Hermione had returned a few hours later with Hedwig and her father. While the two where relatively quiet, Harry was almost immediately awoken by Hedwig's screech as his owl called out to the house, looking for him. Harry was halfway down the stairs before he even knew he was fully awake and Hedwig was in his arms a few seconds later. Harry checked her over and she was mostly fine. She'd been cleaned up of all the blood and her wing had been healed, but there where a lot of feathers missing.

Important feathers.

His Hedwig couldn't fly. It would take a year for all those feathers to grow back in. Hedwig loved flying, it was a passion they shared. Some of Harry's best memories with her were when just the two of them were flying around Hogwarts at twilight. Harry would often just go for a fly after Quidditch practice and Hedwig would show up and fly with him more often than not. Harry had learned a lot about reading air currents from Hedwig, and while not necessary for broom flight, it did help him keep an edge for quidditch.

Now, she couldn't fly, she couldn't hunt, she couldn't be herself. All because he couldn't keep a simple promise; he had let that dog get to her. It was all down to him, she was hurt because of him. It was his job to protect her. It was all his fault. Next thing he knew, Hedwig was clutched to his chest, with his face buried in her feathers as he sobbed quietly, "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry Hedwig. It's all my fault..."

Hermione watched this happen, first with a smile as she watched the two reunite, then with a pained sadness as Harry broke down. She moved Harry and Hedwig over to the sofa, the owl still clutched tightly to Harry's chest. She nodded to her parents to take the other seats in the room. She sat him down, then claimed the space next to him, putting her arm around him and just letting him cry it out. If Harry had been paying attention, he might have noticed that Hermione put her arm around his waist instead of his shoulder, as was her habit as she pulled him close.

"It's Ok Harry. Hedwig is fine. She's safe now", the bushy-haired girl soothed, torn between trying to help calm him or letting him get his heartache out. "It's my fault Hermione. It's all my fault..." Harry kept repeating this, managing to force the words out between the shaking sobs wracking his body violently.

"What's your fault Harry?" She pressed a little, hoping Harry would open up, but also hoping she was not so forceful to close him off. "I promised her 'Mione, I promised Hedwig I wouldn't let it happen", Hermione felt the words in her chest, as though it were suddenly hollow. Why had Harry needed to make a promise like that?

"Harry it's going to be fine, Hedwig is fine. She is all healed u-", before Hermione could finish Harry interrupted her, "B-but her feathers. She can't fly without them. She loves flying. She's going to hate me."

Hermione smiled a little, thankful to have a solution to one of Harry's worries, "Harry, I have a potion to grow her feathers back in a week. Like I said, she'll be fine. A little put out, according to the witch at Eeylops, as she most likely won't like the taste. But, she will be flying again before you know it." With Hermione's reassurances, Harry was able to start putting himself back together. "S-she's going to be ok?" The desperation was evident in his voice, but he was calming slowly. "Yes Harry. Hedwig will be fine. I promise."

Harry let out a sob; suddenly he was crying harder again, "Y-you shouldn't make promises like that 'Mione...It hurts you when you can't keep them." A look of despair crossed Hermione's face for a second as she realised what she had said, "Harry I need you to tell me what happened. Everything. All of it; since I last saw you at King's Cross." Without even meaning to, Hermione used the same tone she used whenever she took charge at Hogwarts; library research, potions, spell incantations. Harry had just become accustomed to doing what Hermione said when she spoke like that. It was a good thing too as Harry, purely on reflex, started telling her about the last two weeks.

The three Grangers sat and listened as he started explaining his life since leaving Hogwarts for the summer.

Almost robotically, his voice devoid of all emotion, he spoke of his uncle, his aunts' Petunia and Marge. He spoke of Ripper and his hunting of Hedwig, the bites he had gotten keeping the bulldog away from his familiar. He spoke of the food he cooked for them but wasn't allowed to eat, cooking breakfast before being allowed to use the facilities. He told them about his birthday, how they mocked him with his favourite foods, cooked by him, and having to listen to a slanderous tirade about his parents. Then of the glass, the belt, the attack on Hedwig and, lastly, his loss of control, then just waking up here.

As Harry finished his tale, Mr Granger got up and left the room. Hermione was clinging to Harry, her arms avoiding the wounds she had seen the night before, her face wet with the tears she had. Mrs Granger sat still, watching Harry, her expression one he had never seen before; caring, pity and rage all rolled up into one. Her cheeks were also wet with her share of tears. Mr Granger must have gone to a nearby bathroom, as the sounds of retching could be heard; the only thing to break the silence.

He returned a few minutes later, taking the seat next to his wife. They all sat in silence for a time, it could have been an hour but was probably closer to two, maybe three, minutes. Then the silence was broken as Mr Granger spoke a single syllable. A simple word which hid its complexity.

"Why?"

The three looked at him, then they all looked at Harry. "They don't like magic", he mumbled. A frown appeared on Mr Granger's face. It looked like he thought of something, "Harry, when we were contacted by Hogwarts, we were told that only immediate family who shares a home with Hermione could be told about magic. How does your Aunt Marge know about magic?" Harry thought about all the rules uncle Vernon imposed to keep magic from his sister. "S-she doesn't know about magic, sir", Harry replied, starting to understand what Mr Granger was talking about.

He spoke to Harry again, "Then I must ask my question again. Why? Why does this Marge Dursley hate a child so much?"

Harry was now thoughtfully confused. Over the years, Marge had always been the same. When he learned about magic, he had lumped Marge in with the Dursleys; they hated him for his magic. But, if Marge never knew of his heritage, why did she hate him? "I...I don't know."

Hemione, who hadn't let go of him throughout his explanation, spoke up, "Harry, you are never going back there. I promise. You won't ever have to go back there." Harry pulled her in tighter, a look of sadness on his face, "'Mione, you can't promise me that. You can't"

From across the room, both of Hermione's parents replied as one, "Yes, Harry. She can."

-ϟϟϟ-

Author Notes:

If anyone is wondering why Mr and Mrs Granger are letting their thirteen-year-old daughter call the shots, simply they're not. They talked while Harry was asleep. All they are doing is letting Harry answer the questions from someone he completely trusts.

I'm not 100% happy with Hermione in this chapter. She is only reacting to Harry and that goes against her character to me. But then everything she did, did feel right, so maybe it's just me.


	5. Chapter 5 - permission to stay

Chapter 5: permission to stay

Later in the evening, 1st August

Harry was nervous. He was sitting at the Grangers' dining room table with both of the adult Grangers. Across from him was someone from the Department of Magical law enforcement.

Only, they hadn't sent a regular enforcement officer, or even an Auror. No, across from Harry sat the head of the DMLE, Director Bones. As for what that meant for this interview, it could either be very good or very bad. With Harry's luck, he wasn't betting on good.

Director Bones was a stern-looking middle-aged witch who wore a Monocle. She had arrived at the Grangers about ten minutes ago. They had decided to use the Grangers' dining room for the interview. Harry had been asked if he wanted Mr and Mrs Granger to remain, as his own guardians could not be present. He had agreed that he wanted them to stay. He wanted Hermione to stay as well, but Bones had said that there were rules against it, as she was not of age.

The Director had then read him something off a card asking if Harry understood. He hadn't, but Mr Granger explained it to him, "Harry, it means that you only have to tell her what you want to tell her. You can choose not to speak about something if you want to. She also can't use magic to compel answers from you or to force you to tell the truth. You can, however, volunteer to allow such magic to be used on you, but that you need to be careful as such magic will force the truth to any questions you are asked." He turned to Director Bones, "Did I miss anything?" The Director shook her head "No, that was a rather good summary."

During Mr Granger's explanation, the Director had set a folder on the table in front of her and what looked like a small writing desk to her right. The desk had an ink well, a long roll of parchment and an electric blue quill.

The Director turned back to Harry, and after confirming that he now understood his rights, started with the interview. "This is a DMLE dicta-quill Harry, it will write out what we say during the interview. In a moment I will start it writing, then I will introduce myself to it as your interviewer. You will then introduce yourself as the interviewee. Then Mr Granger, you will need to do the same as Harry's temporary guardian, then Mrs Granger the same. Any questions?" There weren't any. Director Bones tapped the writing desk and just as she said, the quill sprung to life.

"I am director Amelia Bones, representing the DMLE in the interview of Harry James Potter." The Director then gestured to Harry, indicating his turn;

"I am Harry James Potter, interviewee."

"I am Daniel Granger, temporary guardian of Harry James Potter."

"I am Emma Jean Granger temporary guardian of Harry James Potter."

The director then had them each say a test phase to check the link. Every word was written out by the blue quill, exactly as it had been said. With an indication of who said what. The director then spoke to the dicta-quill for about a minute, adding some data to the parchment. Date, time, case number, the usual for government documents. Then she started the interview.

"Ok, Mr Potter, I want you to tell me in your own words what happened on the night of the 31st of July." Harry was just about to start speaking when Mr Granger interrupted, "Harry, I think you should start from being picked up from King's Cross. Everything you told us earlier. Apologies Director, but I think you need to understand the lead up to that day to fully grasp what happened." The Director frowned slightly at the interruption, but nodded for Harry to go on. The whole point of a guardian for a minor was that they could make decisions like that. Minors just answered the questions asked; adults knew when to add context.

As the interview went on the Director's face changed from friendly to stern to blood freezing. She listened as Harry described acts that ranged from petty to outright torture. And, the more he spoke the more Director Bones was aware that the boy in front of her was only talking about the last two weeks. She studied the boy in front of her. He was small, too small. While she hadn't been the best of friends with Lily and James, she had gone to school with them. Neither were as small as Harry, and she thought about his 'family' withholding food and got a suspicion of just how long that had been going on.

Once Harry finished his recollections, the Director had started asking questions. First about Aunt Marge's glass; "I need to ask, Mr Potter, did you explode the glass your Aunt was holding?" Harry shook his head, "No, Director, I don't think so. I didn't feel the release of magic. I think she just gripped the glass too tight. I also think it may have been intentional, so she could get at Hedwig while I cleaned up the broken glass." All the adults gasped at this. Harry hadn't included this speculation during his recounting, this was only an opinion. An opinion that fit the facts way too well for everyone in the room to dismiss.

The Director asked him about each bit of magic he had admitted to; throwing off his uncle, blasting the door, killing the dog. Harry felt a little bad about that one. Then Director Bones asked about how Harry had got to the Grangers. Harry explained that he didn't remember, but that Mrs Granger had told him he just appeared out of thin air. The director explained apparation and how dangerous it could be. She put a lot of emphasis on how lucky he was not to get splinched. Harry shuddered at the idea of leaving part of himself behind. Then she asked the question that stumped harry

"Ok, Harry, now I want you to explain what happened when you stuck your Aunt to the ceiling," Harry was baffled at this, "What do you mean Director? Which of my aunts was stuck to the ceiling?" The Director checked the file to make sure that she had the right information. "Miss Marge Dursley was found stuck to the ceiling of the area above the stairs with a permanent sticking charm." Harry was dumbfounded, "I don't know what to say Director. I don't remember doing it", the Director fixed him with a stare, "None of it? You don't remember pointing your wand at her? You don't remember floating her up to the ceiling or casting the permanent sticking charm? Nothing at all?"

"Um...Director, I didn't use my wand. It hadn't left my holster since I left the Express, till Hermione uh...confiscated it last night while I was...sleeping." This shocked the Director; accidental magic was fairly common before a child leaves for Hogwarts and not uncommon for a few years after. But wandless magic like that was terribly inefficient. Most people would get two, maybe three, spells before collapsing. Harry, however, had managed seven. It was astonishing, it was almost unbelievable.

"You really didn't use your wand?" Harry looked her straight in the eye, no glint of uncertainty or lies, "No, I just lost control and my magic acted on its own." Director Bones corrected him, "No, Harry, not on its own. Remember your first lessons in magic, what did you learn?" Harry's eyes widened, "Raw magic is tied to desire. It reshapes the world around us based on what we feel. The wand is the tool of will so that we choose the magic we cast", the Director nodded, "exactly, if you never used your wand, you only felt the need to defend yourself. You never choose to act. It is a fine line, but an important one in the law."

She turned to the Grangers, "would it be possible for one of you to retrieve his wand, please. I can check his wand with a few simple charms to see what spells he used with it recently." Mr Granger nodded and went to retrieve the wand from his daughter. Once Director Bones had Harry's wand she explained the charms she was about to cast. The first was a simple charm that produced a coloured mist of light to flow from the tip of the wand. The mist was ranged from red to blue. The red-er the mist, the more recently the wand had been used, with the deepest blue being 4 weeks or longer. The second was 'Priori Incantatem', which was apparently the reverse spell effect. This charm created a 'spell ghost' for a few moments.

Director Bones held his wand in her left hand and her own in her right. She pointed her wand at his, giving her wand a weird jerking motion, "Reliqutemoles*." A solidly purple glowing mist started to flow from the tip of Harry's wand. Bones spoke to the quill, "Let the record show the Reliqutemole charm results are consistent with Mr Potter's statement of approximately two weeks without using his wand." The dicta quill scratched her words into the parchment. Resetting the wands the next spell was cast on his wand; "Prior Incantato!"

A grey mist flowed from Harry's wand forming miniature ghost of Harry's school trunk with wings. Harry sighed as he assumed this was the wingardium leviosa charm he remembered casting on his trunk as he boarded the Express at the Hogsmeade train station.

The Director recorded the results of that charm as well and began going through her folder in front of her, checking it's content and comparing it to the statement Harry had given. She closed the folder and looked at Harry. And handed him his wand. Harry couldn't express the relief he felt when he had his wand back in his hand, his magic reaching out and rejoining with the wand's core. The closest he could come to describing it was that it was similar to not being in pain anymore, an intense feeling of relief as you are finally able to relax.

"Ok, Mr Potter." The Director pulled his attention back to her, "firstly, I have more than enough evidence to drop the charges of underage magic, muggle beating and breaking the international statute of secrecy. Your actions all fall under the Self-defence clause. But I do need to remind you that the statute of secretary is our world's most important law. While you had good reason this time, don't think you can get away with doing magic outside of school again unless you are in another emergency. As I feel that you returning to the home of your relatives is likely to result in a repeat of these circumstances, I am going to have to do a couple of things."

"First I am putting a temporary relocation order on you. You are not permitted to return to the Dursleys', at least until I have completed my second task. Harry, I am going to open an investigation on how the Dursleys treated you. If everything goes well you will never have to see them again." Harry was stunned. He had been afraid that this meeting would go so much worse. He truly expected to be sent back to the Dursleys' at best, maybe even with his wand snapped. But he was being kept from the Dursleys to preserve the statute of secrecy. He just didn't know what to do.

Mrs Granger, however, seemed to have an idea,"Director, where will Harry stay in the meantime? Harry was with 'them people' because he has no other family, right? Would it help if we volunteered to keep him here?" Director Bones looked relieved. "Honestly it would. If I placed Mr Potter with a magical family there would be a fight over who took him in, and not every member of our society have the best interest of The-Boy-Who-Lived in mind." Harry winced at the epithet.

"The-Boy-Who-Lived? What?" Mr Granger hadn't heard the nickname for Harry before, as he didn't know magical gossip. "It's what they call me. After Voldemort-" Director Bones flinched at the use of his name, "tried to kill me but failed. I hate the epithet but there's nothing I can do to stop people using it. Every time I hear it all I can think is why didn't I save my parents." The Director looked like someone had slapped her, while Mrs Granger seemed like she wanted to hug him. Bones recovered first, "My apologies Mr Potter." Harry waved his hand dismissively, "I'm used to it." It didn't escape anyone's notice that Harry hadn't actually accepted the apology. "I never thought about how that title would affect you. I will never use it again. You have my word."

Not wanting to get too far off-topic, Director bones moved them back, "if you are agreeable to hosting Mr Potter it would mean a lot less paperwork, and as Mr Potter came here himself I feel he would be looked after here." The two Grangers went to the other side of the room for a few minutes to hold a whispered conversation. They came back to the table, and instead of turning to Director Bones as harry expected, they instead spoke to him, "Harry what do you want?" Mr Granger asked him gently. The question caught him off-guard. In Harry's experience, adults didn't ask him what he wanted. At least not about anything more important than how many sugars Harry wanted in his tea. Adults told you what they expected you to do.

This was new to him. What did he want? He wanted to not go back to Privet Drive, but that looked sorted. He liked the idea of spending the summer with Hermione. Yet Mr and Mrs Granger were so nice, he didn't want to be a burden on them. But, Director Bones seemed to be pretty good too, stern but nice. Like a younger Professor McGonagall. He didn't want to cause her any extra work either. "I… I don't want to be a burden on anyone. But I don't know anyone else." Mrs Granger spoke to harry "Harry, If you want to stay, trust me, you would not be a burden. Honestly. Plus, I think Hermione would be happier if you were to stay where she can see you for a while. It's your choice, would you like to stay?"

The relief was evident to the adults in the room as soon as Harry spoke, "Yes...Thank you!" "We do have some concerns though", the three of them turned back to Director Bones, "Harry will need his possessions; his school robes, his books, stuff like that. All he has right now is his wand and his owl." The Director thought about it, "I will need to go back there tomorrow anyway. I need to return Marge Dursley from St Mungo's and modify her memory. I will collect Mr Potter's belongings myself at the same time." The grangers shuddered at the mention of memory modification. They had been told about it before when McGonagall had explained the consequence of trying to tell others of magic.

"What is St Mungo's? And what will you replace her memory with?" Harry's curiosity got the better of him. The Director replied coolly, unfazed by his questions, "St Mungo's is Britain's only magical hospital. Your Aunt is there regrowing some skin from the removal of the permanent sticking charm. As for her memories, we need to account for her dog and you no longer being there. It's also better to keep the new memory as close to the truth as possible. So she will remember her dog attacking you, which lead to police involvement and her dog being put to sleep. You are recovering with a school friend."

She then looked at her watch, checking the time, "Harry, that just about covers our interview, I just have one more thing to ask of you. Can I please take a few pictures of your injuries?" Harry really did not want to show anyone the injuries and the thought of someone taking pictures was slightly overwhelming, but with advice and encouragement from the Grangers, he allowed the pictures. Because as much as he hated the photos, he would do anything in his power to stop himself going back to the Dursleys', he wasn't sure he could survive if he was sent back there again.

-ϟϟϟ-

The same day, but a few hours later

"You know Harry, you shouldn't let my daughter corrupt you too much. While her study habits are excellent, she and her mother have some habits that are just wrong. Almost blasphemous." Mr Granger was trying to sway Harry's opinion.

"Dad, give it a break will you. Harry can make his own choice. It's not like it hurts anyone." Despite the bickering, the two of them looked like they were having fun. Mr Granger pouted like a small child, a grin playing on his face, "But people will be hurt. I will be hurt. It damages my very soul."

Harry thought it was time to find out what he thought about it one way or the other. He bit into the slice of pizza Hermione had recommended, "Wow, fresh pizza is amazing!"

It had started about an hour ago; after Director Bones left no-one had felt like cooking, so Mrs Granger had decided to phone in an order to a local pizza place. When Hermione had asked Harry what his favourite toppings were, Harry had admitted, much to the dismay of everyone else, that he had no clue. He had only ever tried cold pizza the day after the Dursleys' had had it. And only then if there were leftovers.

This had turned into an animated debate between Hermione and her dad over the ethics of pineapple on pizza, the two of them each lobbying for their own preference. Hermione favoured a combination of ham, mushrooms, pineapple and prawns, whereas Mr Granger proclaimed the superiority of chicken, green bell-peppers and garlic. This went on for a while as Mrs Granger made the order.

Once the pizzas were delivered, Harry was served a slice of each so that he could make up his mind. His first taste of the hot fresh pizza was completely different from the cold pizza he had had a few times in his life, and the toppings were delicious as well, for both pizzas. The two lobbyists watched him try both flavours as they enjoyed their own. Mrs Granger looked like she was trying not to smile too much, else she, god forbid, might encourage her husband and daughter further.

"I like both, so I guess I come down as pro pineapple on pizza." Hermione cheered as Mr Granger shook his head, overacting his disappointment, trying to get the two teens to laugh. As the meal progressed Harry finished his two slices of pizza; a rather large portion for him after being starved for so long by the Dursleys. But he found fresh warm pizza to be almost irresistible.

Almost any food was irresistible when you had barely eaten in the last 3 days.

-ϟϟϟ-

Author's Notes:

Reliqutemoles* - a mix of latin from reliqua and tempus with a little nonsense thrown in to sound good it basically means 'rest time' the spell shows how long its been since a wand last cast a spell.


	6. Chapter 6

"Emma, Come to bed love. You're going to wear a hole in the carpet if you keep pacing." Emma Granger looked at her husband, "Sorry love, It's just-" Daniel interrupted, "You want to strap the Dursleys to your dental chair. Then drill down to all the nerves in their teeth without an anaesthetic?" Emma glanced at her husband as he lay in bed, "that is an oddly specific example. But yes. That and so much more. How could they do that to a child? I just want to...ugh!" She threw a balled-up pair of socks against the wall as hard as she could.

Daniel knew he was best letting his wife rage. They had been bottling it up all day since Harry told them of his life outside of school. The reason for holding back was simple. When Harry had told his story Daniel had not hidden his anger at first. He openly showed his feelings, until Harry flinched. Harry was afraid of angry adults. Daniel and Emma understood why and had both started acting calmer and happier for the sake of the poor boy.

It was only now, in the privacy of their own room, that they let the mask drop. Emma was still pacing back and forth, being excessively violent to things that could take it. Another ball of socks, a crumpled-up t-shirt, her pillow, all went flying across the room in her attempts to calm down. Daniel, on the other hand, was different, if his wife's anger was a blazing fire, his was cold. Instead of pacing and emoting like Emma, Daniel sat there in bed making plans.

"Emma, did Hermione ever say anything about Harry's relatives?" His wife turned to look at him, some of her fury directed at him, "you think I would have let any of that happen to any child, let alone one Hermione cares for, if I had even a hint!?" Daniel realised the mistake in his phrasing "sorry love bad phrasing. I mean anything their jobs, where they live. anything I can use to find out more about them."

A look of understanding came over Emma's face. "I don't recall anything. We can ask her what she knows tomorrow. Don't expect much however, I doubt Harry told her much of what happened to him, considering how shocked she was." Dan nodded; it wouldn't surprise him if Harry had planned on never telling anyone.

"How is our girl handling all this? It's a pretty big thing to handle for us, and we're adults who don't know Harry all that well."

Emma looked at the wall in the direction of her daughter's room, "Better than I thought she would. She is hyper-focusing on the things she can do to help. Just like she does with tests." Her husband nodded, "She is working through it then. Did you notice how he is with her?" She smirked, thinking about the comfortable intimacy that Hermione had with her new boyfriend, "You mean the fact that he stays out of arm's reach of everyone? Even moving off slowly if anyone gets to close. He has a boundary he doesn't like anyone in. But our girl can walk right up and hug him without him flinching?" Emma was focusing on that, and it was helping her to calm down a little. Dan nodded once again, "Yep. He trusts her and she was OK showing off her cat ears to him. She covers them even when it's just us around, but she trusts him to be OK with them.

"As much as I don't want our girl to be involved with the stuff he will be going through...Emma, I think she may be the only one who can truly help him." Emma flopped on the bed next to her husband, she wouldn't get under the covers tonight, he knew it was too hot for her at this time of the year, "do you really think that she would have it any other way? She likes to charge in and fix things at the best of times. And now her boyfriend needs help. No way she's leaving this alone." Dan conceded the point, even if he didn't like it, "Have I mentioned how much I hate that my little girl even has a boyfriend already?"

Emma shifted on the bed, turning to look at her husband, "Darling, she is growing up. She will be fourteen in 7 weeks. It's normal and from what she's been saying about Harry all summer, she found a good one. I know you don't like it, but to be honest, it's not Hermione growing up that's the problem. It's that it makes you feel old." Dan grunted in response.

-ϟϟϟ-

The sun hit Harry's face, waking him up from slumber. He groaned and rolled over, eyeing the time on the clock. Then it hit him; he had slept late.

He jumped out of bed, looking around for his clothes, he had to get ready before his Aunt sent Vernon to get him. Then he realized he wasn't at Privet Drive.

He was at Hermione's.

He sat back on the bed, breathing heavily, trying to focus his muddled mind. He was at Hermione's. He was at Hermione's. His uncle wasn't here. It was OK. It took him ten minutes, but he was finally able to get himself under control.

He got dressed in the clothes that had been provided, laid out over the back of a chair. He was sure they were Hermione's fathers. Even with the electronic waste of the workout trousers, he had to pull the string so much that he was able to wrap it around his waist a second time. And they were still a better fit than Dudley's hand-me-downs.

He said good morning to Hedwig, who was on an improvised perch that Mr Granger had cobbled together months ago, so that Hedwig had somewhere to rest after delivering Hermione's letters. Hermione had relocated it to the corner of the guest room Harry currently occupied. He convinced Hedwig to drink her feather replenishing potion, with the promise that he would get her some water to wash out the taste.

He went down the hall to the bathroom with the bowl he had given Hedwig her potion in, took care of his morning business, then rinsed and refilled the bowl with water. Hedwig nipped his finger lightly when he returned the bowl and took a quick drink. Harry sat with her for a little while, but as the morning drew on his familiar grew sleepier and sleepier, eventually dismissing him so she could get some sleep.

As Harry made his way downstairs he heard a radio playing in the kitchen;

Another great song by Culture Beat. That was, of course, Mr Vain.

This is BBC radio chasing away the Monday blues.

Up next we are breaking through our limits...

It's no limits by 2unlimatid.

A high paced techno beat started playing as Harry made his way towards the music, assuming that if there was music playing then someone would be listening to it. Entering the kitchen, he stood in the doorway and stared at the sight before him. In the kitchen was Hermione, dressed casually with her ears and tail out in the open. Only...Hermione wasn't listening to the radio as she studied or did a bit of housework.

Hermione was dancing. Hermione was dancing, and Harry couldn't seem to look away.

No no limits, we'll reach for the sky!

No valley too deep, no mountain too high

No no limits, won't give up the fight

We do what we want and we do it with pride

Hemione sang along to the chorus as she danced her swaying hips, unknowingly captivating Harry, who just couldn't tear his eyes away. As the last line of the chorus finished, Hermione turned around and was surprised to see her boyfriend/house guest watching her avidly

"H-Harry how long...how long were you w-watching?" The teen's face as red as a tomato. Harry's face just as red, "N-not long...a few seconds that's all, I swear." The stammering teens each felt rather awkward, "Sorry, I should have said something as soon as I walked in, but you looked like you were having fun..." then mumbling quietly, he added, "...and you looked really cute." Hermione's blush deepened; thanks to her cat ears she heard the last bit clearly. She threw her arms around Harry.

"You know cat ears are better than human ones, right?" Hermione teased him a little. She could feel the heat of his blush as she held onto his stomach. Too embarrassed to say anything, Harry just put his arms around her, holding her closer to him. Hermione smiled at the feeling of his arms encircling her; she had had to be patient with Harry for months before he started hugging her back. She reflected a little on all she had learned the day before about his relatives, then she realised the reason he didn't like hugging her at first.

It took Harry so long to hug her because Harry didn't know how to respond to a hug. Hell, he didn't know how to respond to any positive physical contact at all. Hermione could guess that his Uncle gave him a lot of physical contact, just not the good kind. He didn't know how to respond to a hug because he had never got any growing up. She clung to harry tighter, the two of them standing silent and still for a few minutes, enjoying the presence of each other, their arms wrapped snugly around each other.

The radio started up with another song;

Wise men say

Only fools rush in,

But I can't help falling in love with you.

Wise men say

Only fools rush…

Hermione had disentangled herself from her boyfriend and turned off the radio, "So...breakfast! Yes! We haven't eaten yet..." She stammered out as he moved over to the kitchen counters, "Yeah, breakfast sounds good." Harry went to help her prepare the food. The two teens worked together to create a simple breakfast of poached eggs and toast, both of them avoiding the L-word like the plague. The two sat down at the table eating their breakfast; just relaxing and enjoying their food together wasn't something they were able to do a lot. At school they had to finish in time to get to lessons, even when there weren't lessons, there was Quidditch training or they needed to get to the library early. So for Harry and Hermione, the lazy breakfast was a nice change of pace.

Author's notes

note the songs i used were released in 1993 when this part of the story is set and would have been the type of thing playing on the radio that year. I didn't pay attention to what month they came out because i wanted the whole year to choose from

no limits - 2 unlimited

CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE - UB40 version

**I have had a few people mention getting a beta reader and I could use one. if anyone is interested in the job send me a message.**


	7. Chapter 7 - Just a walk in the park

Chapter 7

Monday, 2nd August

Director Amelia Bones considered her next destination, by rights her next stop should be the Granger residence, but it was nearing lunch and she thought to herself, 'Mr Potter doesn't need his trunk immediately.'

And after a morning with the Dursleys, she really could use a drink. So with that thought, the head of the DMLE spun on the spot, disappearing from the secluded alley she occupied and reappearing in the public receiving room at the Leaky Cauldron. She left the room as soon as she appeared, just in case someone apparated in on top of her. She made her way over to the bar and looked up at the food board to check today's menu, then waited until Tom the Barman was free.

"Afternoon Director Bones, you here on business or you looking for lunch?" Tom, having finished with his previous customer asked as he strolled over to where she was sitting.

"Afternoon Tom. I'll take a B.L.T and a pint of hobgoblin." He nodded and started pouring the drink, "Tuff morning then?" Bones took a drink from her pint, considering what she should say, "Difficult case with a trio of headcases..." Tom listened sympathetically, "Sound's tough. You back at work after this, or do I have the pleasure of your company for a few drinks today?" Amelia translated in her head; 'do I need to worry about cutting you off'. "For me it's back to work. I need to do the paperwork for the Azkaban rotation. Need my head clear for that." Amelia's B.L.T appeared next to her. She handed the barman some money then took her lunch to one of the booths to eat.

As she ate she thought over the morning's events. The Dursley's where guilty of a lot, there was no question on that. Bones wished nothing more than to drag them in front of the Warlocks of the Wizengamot and have them thrown to the dementors. But as they were muggles she couldn't do that. And there was no way to take it to a muggle court without risking the Statute of Secrecy. This whole case was one big clusterfuck. Amelia took another drink from her pint. She would need to get creative to solve this one.

She started breaking down the case in her head;

Petunia Dursley: Child neglect, child abuse, reckless endangerment of a child.

Motive: hates magic/possibly jealous of her sister?

Not much to go on there...

Vernon Dursley: child neglect, child abuse, reckless endangerment of a child, assault and battery of a minor.

Motive: hates magic. No other clear motives.

Guilty as sin but can't touch him for it.

Dudley Dursley [minor]: bullying and assault.

Motive: encouraged by parents, taught to isolate and abuse Potter.

Want to add another charge of abuse there; the way he's been raised will make life hard on the boy.

Marge Dursley: Assault and battery of a minor, animal abuse.

Motive: Unknown; doesn't know about magic.

Director Bones thought over that last bit, just what was that woman's motive? Miss Dursley was unaware of the magical world or that Mr Potter had a place in it. Just why did the woman hate the young boy enough to do those things to him? And if she didn't need a reason, was Potter the only child she had done this to? That needed investigating, maybe if she could build a case around other muggle children, then the muggle authorities could handle the case without Mr Potter being involved.

It would preserve the Statute and protect Mr Potter. It was worth looking at. She may even take a closer look at Mr and Mrs Dursley, if they could get away with treating a child like that because of a technicality, it didn't mean they could get away with anything else.

Director bones finished her meal and went to leave.

-ϟϟϟ-

The same day

Harry had grown up in the suburbs and had not spent much time in London. As such, his opinion of the city was one of lifeless, grey buildings. Hermione had decided that the best way to change Harry's view of the city was to show him. Hermione and her parents lived in a part of London called Hampstead, and that was right next to Hampstead Heath, one of the largest parks in London.

So that's how Harry and Hermione spent their morning; Hermione showing Harry around the park, the two of them enjoying the fresh air and some time together. "Hermione how hard is it to get to Diagon Alley from your place?" Hermione looked at Harry for a few seconds before answering, "Two buses and about forty-five minutes each way. Why?"

Harry shrugged, "I was thinking of visiting Gringotts. I am out of gold and cash and...well...I want clothes that...fit." Harry looked away, a mix of embarrassment and shame on his face.

Hermione, who really didn't care what Harry looked like or how he dressed, thought it was still a good idea for Harry to get some new clothes. Even now, with Harry in her dad's clothes rather than his own, he looked better. And Hermione knew that lots of people judge others by their clothes. She took Harry's hand, leading him to a path that would start them back to her home, "that we can do that easily Harry, Gringotts can exchange gold for pounds and I know where we can do some shopping for you."

"Thanks Hermione. I would be totally lost if it weren't for you." The smile Hermione had been wearing most of the morning brightened. She didn't think Harry had meant it like that, but it was nice to hear nevertheless, "It's no problem Harry, plus, while we are at Diagon alley we can look in Flourish and Blotts. Maybe buy a few new books." Harry's smile became a little forced; he liked books and he liked Hermione, but Hermione in a bookshop meant at least the very least, one new book and then carrying them all around the rest of the day. The two of them started meandering through the park, slowly heading in the direction of Hermione's home.

-ϟϟϟ-

Later that day

Harry and Hermione haven't been back at the house long and were just contemplating lunch when there was a knock at the door. Hermione answered it and found Director Bones waiting. After a quick exchange of pleasantries, she invited the ministry official in. After they were seated and Hermione had offered the Director a cup of tea, that she declined, Bones explained why she was there first and what was expected. She pulled Harry's trunk and Hedwig's bird cave out of her handbag then returned them to normal with a wave of her wand.

"Also Mr Potter, I wanted to ask you a question, If that's ok with you?" Harry was a little surprised, but he guessed during investigations new questions come up all the time, "Ask way."

Amelia sat in silent thought for a few seconds, before speaking again, "OK. Remember, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. Do you know why Marge Dursley dislikes you so much?"

Harry answered straight away, "None of the Dursley's like magic." The director shook her head, "No Harry, I confirmed it myself; until the aftermath of her setting her dog on your owl she knew nothing of magic."

Harry was stunned. He started remembering every time Aunt Marge was notable to him. And how he felt like some kind of worthless freak. Then he discovered his magic and his place in the magical world. He was a wizard. It was wrong for the Dursley's to treat him the way they did, but it made sense; they hated magic and that's what Harry was to them. But if Aunt Marge never knew about magic, why had she done all that?

"But if it wasn't because of my magic, t-then why?" The distress Harry's voice was in was evident, and on his face as well. Hermione moved to sit next to him and pulled him against her. Director Bones replied, "I'm sorry Mr Potter, I don't know. That's why I wanted to ask you. It looks like it will be one of the next parts of my investigations."

After that, there were a few bits of procedure and Director Bones left some paperwork for the Mr and Mrs Granger to sign. Then the director pleaded work and left.

-ϟϟϟ-

Immediately afterwards

Amelia Bones felt like shit as she left the Grangers. She hated that she had to ask Mr Potter that question. She suspected that Harry had no clue why his second aunt had behaved the way she had, but Director Bones couldn't justify the man-hours for the investigation without exacting the simple option first.

The Director made her way to one of the overgrown side alleys that were all over London, looking for a spot to disapparate. She needed to get back to the Ministry. She had put off the Azkaban report as long as she could, any longer and she risked a hiccup in the operations there. She was just about to apparate to work when a voice sounded behind her, "Amelia! What a pleasant surprise to see you here."

The Director spun around, looking for who had called her name. She saw who it was, smiled, and relaxed, "Well well, it's been a while, how have you been?" The newcomer smiled, "Oh, you know how it is; overworked, underpaid and not getting any younger." Amelia started walking into the narrow walkway that allowed access to the backs of the houses, "I have been meaning to..."

"Obliviate!" The newcomer walked into the alley a little ways and disapparated, leaving a dazed and confused Amelia Bones in his wake.

Bones' mind was muddled for a few moments as she fruitlessly tried to remember what she was doing, then a wave of fatigue jogged her memory. She had been up to her eyes in paperwork all day and she was off home for a well deserved early night. She apparated home, said goodnight to her niece and her friend Hannah, then got herself some well-deserved sleep.


	8. Chapter 8 - clothes and grades

**Chapter 8**

Ok some authors note to begin this chapter first i will now be working with a beta reader. Mattyscic has done a fantastic job and deserves a lot of props /u/12284150/ popover to his profile and give him some love.

This fic will now update on Sundays and Wednesdays. Hope you all enjoy this is my longest chapter yet

**4th August**

Hermione sat next to Harry on the muggle bus; the two of them were on their way to the centre of London, first to Diagon alley to convert some wizarding money into Muggle, then to get Harry some much-needed clothes.

Hermione didn't really care too much about how Harry dressed, to her he was the guy who killed trolls and Basilisks who tried to hurt her, he was the guy who read her books to her when she couldn't read them herself, he was the guy who, despite hating being the centre of attention, would stand up for her in front of the whole school when Malfoy started on his blood purity bullshit.

As far as Hermione was concerned his clothing meant nothing compared to any of that.

Yet now that she paid attention she could see that Harry must've hated those clothes. Not only must it have been uncomfortable to wear clothes so many sizes too big, but it also called attention to harry. Anybody would stand out in the _rags_ he was forced to wear.

He stood out so much that many of the muggles that they were travelling with shot them looks of pity and disgust, turning their noses up at his attire. Hermione's ears were inside her hairband so she couldn't make out what they were saying, but she could take an educated guess. But the truth was it didn't matter what they said. What mattered was the fact that they were getting looks at all. Hermione didn't particularly like being the centre of attention and she knew how much Harry hated it.

Yes, some normal clothes would be good for him.

The bus pulled up to a stop near King's Cross and it was only a short walk to the Leaky Cauldron from here, so the two of them set off on foot.

Hermione's mum had been in two minds about letting the teens go alone but with having to run their dental practice and Harry desperately needing clothes that fit she had eventually relented, allowing them to travel alone, only after extracting a promise from each of them that they would stay together.

They slipped into the magical old pub. Hermione loved the Leaky Cauldron; despite being in the centre of London it had the feel of a real British country pub and reminded her of weekend trips with her parents. The two teens made their way through the pub weaving in and out of the patrons who were doing more than just passing through. Hermione opened the brick arch after stopping Harry from doing so,

"Harry you're still recovering from magical exhaustion. You would probably be fine but I'm not letting you take the chance if I am here to do it.", Harry grumbled but stepped back to let her do it.

Diagon alley appeared before them as behind the old pub the even older brick wall sifted and twisted into an elegant archway. The long narrow cobbled street was packed with brightly coloured shop fronts, each displaying eye-catching advertisements;

Cauldrons – **All Sizes** – Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver – Self-Stirring

_Eeylops_ Owl Emporium – Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown and Snowy.

**Firebolt** – the new broom for the quality Quidditch player

Bagdull's trunks & bags - _custom expand luggage to order_

.

The shops were selling everything from potion ingredients to telescopes. At the far end of the street stood the large imposing wizarding bank; Gringotts, their destination. The intimidating nature of the building was further enhanced by the three armoured goblins standing to attention on either side of the door. The six guards each had a hand resting on the hilt of their own blade, ready and willing to leap into action to protect their beloved bank if they felt the need for it.

Hermione and Harry walked up the marble steps in front of Gringotts, past the silent guards and though the heavy doors into the bank.

Being early on a weekday there wasn't much of a queue and Harry and Hermione soon found themselves face to face with one of the bank tellers.

"Good morning. What can Gringotts help you with today?", the goblin sneered down at them.

"I need to make a withdrawal from my vault, number 687, and I need to change some of that gold to Muggle currency."

The goblin examined Harry intensely, "Do you have your key Sir?".

As simple as the question was Hermione could tell that the banker would love to refuse Harry entry and was looking for an excuse.

"I do.", Harry stated, bringing out the small golden key that Hagrid had given him years ago. Hermione snorted internally as the goblin's face screwed up into yet another sneer. As though harry would come to Gringotts without it.

"Very well...do you wish the young Madam to accompany you?"

"Obviously I want Hermione there.", Hermione was a little taken aback by that. This was Harry's inheritance, his own personal vault. She didn't want to pry into Harry's affairs. It was not her business to see inside his vault.

"Harry there is no need for me to come down with you."

"I promised your mum we should stick together today.", Harry replied, "If I go down and leave you, I break that promise. If I don't go down then this trip is pointless. And don't tell me you don't want to see a Gringotts vault."

There was no denying that Hermione desperately wanted to see a Gringotts vault. A lot of muggleborns didn't get to see a Gringotts vault all that often, if at all, unless they got a high paying job or married a witch or wizard who had one. Hermione had wanted to see one since her first time visiting Gringotts

"Right this way then", the goblin started leading them deeper into the bank.

"Anyway.", Harry continued, "I need your help telling me how much to withdraw. I have no clue how much our trip today will cost.".

Hermione shook her head at Harry but followed. The goblin lead them to a train tracks underneath the Entrance Hall and another goblin. The goblins exchanged a few words in their native language. Then the goblin who lead them down left.

"Good morning Sir and Madam, my name's Bognok and I will be bringing you to your vault." At his words a dangerously old mine cart came zipping up the track, before stopping dead right in front of them. "All aboard for vault 6-8-4."

Hermione looked at the cart rather apprehensively. It had come out of the tunnel really fast and didn't seem to have any safety features like a seatbelt or even anything you could hold on to.

Harry, however, didn't hesitate at all.

"I love these things.", he muttered as he walked up and stood next to the cart, waiting to help Hermione into it. It was only when he looked back he saw the look of worry and hesitation on Hermione's face.

"It's OK, Hermione, it's just like a rollercoaster. At least I think it is...I've never ridden a rollercoaster, but this is really fun, you'll see." Hermione felt a little better at that. But she still wasn't entirely sure.

"B-but there aren't even any seatbelts."Harry grinned slyly back at her. "Magic, Hermione, magic." That helped Hermione relax. How silly was she to think that there would be no magic to keep them safe?

She climbed into the cart, quickly followed by Harry and Bognok. The second they were all settled, the cart shot off down the tunnel, Bognok leaning up against the front, directing their descent into the vaults.

Harry wore a mad grin, clearly thoroughly enjoying the ride. Hermione, however, had never been a big fan of rollercoasters and held on to harry for dear life, burying her face in his chest until the cart came to a stuttering stop.

Hermione apprehensively took her face out of his shoulder and unwrapped herself from her boyfriend.

She proceeded to climb unsteadily out of the cart.

"'Mione, are you OK? You look a little green.", Harry barely bit back a laugh at the sight of his girlfriend looking like she was petrified.

"I'm fine. Just not a big fan of rollercoasters."

Harry chuckled as he handed his key over to Bognok, who in turn used it to open the door leading to Harry's vault.

There was more gold in there than Hermione had ever seen. Inside were mountains of coins.

Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts. Stacks of Galleons balanced precariously. It looked like an absolute fortune.

That was until Hermione did some quick adding up in her head.

With Harry's school expenses for another 5 years to be taken out, that used up a good chunk of the money here. He would be fine for a few years after school but it wasn't as if he wouldn't need to work after Hogwarts.

Hermione grinned up at Harry.

A small part of her was worried that Harry had brought her here to show off his vast wealth, but it looked like Harry really did just want help with knowing how much to withdraw.

"You know, Harry, that you're still going to have to work once you leave school?", he stared at her incredulously.

"Your kidding, right? 'Mione, do you see how much money is in here!?"

Hermione laughed at his face of mock horror.

"Well, if you take how much it is to get your new supplies every year-"

Harry pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on the top of her head, "Don't bore me with the math, 'Mione, let's just get what we need and get out."

She huffed indignantly and stepped on his foot, hard. Harry yelped in pain, before laughing with her.

"So...how much do you think i'll need?"

"You'll probably need about 50 galleons to convert to pounds, and that should give you almost £250.", Hermione supplied to the lost face from Harry.

" 50 galleons will be exactly £248 and 99 pence.", Bognok said, "Plus whatever you want to keep as galleons."

-ϟϟϟ-

Harry and Hermione were sat in a nice pub/restaurant waiting on their food. She had dragged him to a department store that specializes in clothes. What followed were three extremely boring hours of trying out more clothes than he ever had in his life.

Harry ended up buying an assortment of clothing, including; two pairs of jeans, three regular pairs of trousers that would be acceptable with his school

robes, four jumpers, obviously in Gryffindor red, ten t-shirts split between regular and polo shirts in assorted colours, 6 regular shirts (3 white, 1 black and two that were different shades of blue), a blazer not unlike the one Dudley wore to Smeltings, a practical coat with lots of pockets, a pair of trainers that

weren't torn (unlike his other ones), a pair of leather shoes that squeaked incessantly when you walked in them, and enough underwear to last a few weeks

After all that Harry was exhausted and hungry. Hermione had convinced him to "dispose" of the clothes he had come out in (a particularly old set of Dudley's cast offs) and wear some of his new things out of the store.

With much nicer apparel than Harry had left the house in, he suggested grabbing a bit to eat. At his mention of food, Hermione hadn't hesitated to suggest one of her favourite places to eat.

"Why don't we go to The Skinners Arms.", she said as she tugged his arm hard, giving him little choice but to follow, "it's close by and the food is amazing. Dad and I often eat there after a day in the British Library", and so that is where they had ended up.

The table they had chosen was out of the way in the corner, affording them an excellent view of the rest of the restaurant, while giving them a relative amount of peace and quiet. The waiter brought their starters to the table. Harry wasn't comfortable with spending a large amount of money so they had opted for a meal deal that came with two starters and mains for a set price.

"Here you go Hermione; one calamari for you, and for your young gentlemen here one bowl of tomato soup." Harry was a little startled that the waiter knew his girlfriend's name but Hermione just smiled at the waiter, "Thanks Michael. This is Harry, my boyfriend. Harry, this is Michael, his family owns the pub."

The two shook hands and exchanged the obligatory "nice to meet you"s and conducted in small talk.

"So Hermione", Michael inquired, "this is the first time you brought a boy here that isn't your da.? Do I need to give Dan a call and tell him about Mr Harry here."

Hermione smirked knowingly at him, "and what makes you think dad doesn't already know all about harry?"

"Really? He knows about Harry and he let the two of you go off together, _alone_. You must be one of the good one's Harry, for Daniel to approve of you and trust you with his daughter."

Hermione glared at him, "I can take care of myself, thank you very much!"

He laughed heartily as Harry rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Yeah Mr Granger is alright. I think both of Hermione's parents are pretty great."

Michael nodded at that, before looking around at the pub, "Well i've got to serve other customers, but it was great seeing you Hermione. I'll let you two lovebirds get to your food."

With that Michael left, leaving the two teens to their meal in private. Hermione wasn't wrong about the food, Harry thought, as he eagerly ate his soup. Tomato soup may be simple but Harry could tell that rather than using a canned or powdered soup they made their own from scratch, and it was by far the best tomato soup he had ever tasted. The only one he had tried that even came close was the tomato soup at Hogwarts. Hermione seemed to have the same opinion of her calamari, at least that's what Harry thought, given the sounds of approval she made while eating.

"You were right Hermione the food here is great", Hermione nodded, her mouth currently full making her unable to respond. Harry noticed that she was a bit more of a slob when she wasn't near her parents. Still nothing on Ron's level though. "How did you and your dad find this place?", she swallowed her bite of food, "Dad was in school with Michael's older brother, Steven. Steven used to work here in the kitchen but he moved to France to learn french cooking. He then fell in love with Nice, the region of France he was in, and a woman he met there. The two of them got married and made their lives in France, but before Steven left dad used to come here a lot."

Harry digested that information, as well as some more of his soup, before responding. "It sounds like he and your dad used to be close.", Hermione nodded, "We often go to France on holiday, my dad and Steve will meet and go for a catch-up."

Hermione suddenly looked a little sad. " We didn't get to go this year. My parents were worried about my cat problem, they didn't know if it would be a problem at the airport." Harry felt a little guilty at that; if he had given her her present a little sooner then maybe her parents would have been able to go ahead with their plans.

When he tried to apologise to Hermione for just that she was having none of it.

"Don't you dare Harry James Potter!", while Hermione didn't shout there was all the force even without the volume, "I will not have you feeling guilty! That was a really kind and thoughtful thing you did. No one else thought of a way to help me move through the muggle world, so none of that 'if only you had done it sooner' stuff. I love my gifts and I…", Hermione suddenly blushed a deep red, " I really appreciate that you got them for me."

They finished their meal in an awkward silence, the two of them, for the second time that week, carefully avoiding a topic neither of them felt ready to address yet.

-ϟϟϟ-

Harry and Hermione practically collapsed on the sofa the second they walked through the door. Mrs Granger watched with a look of approval at the clothes harry had come back in. the two they looked like they had run a marathon, panting heavily for breath. Judging by the number of bags they had with them maybe they had.

She sat in one of the chairs next to the sofa,

"So...how did everything go?"

Harry grunted in response, "remind me _never _to go clothes shopping again."

Hermione giggled on the couch next to him, slapping him playfully on the shoulder, "Oh, come on, Harry, it wasn't _that _bad…"

"You had me try on hundreds of clothes, Hermione, hundreds!"

"But you enjoyed spending time with me, didn't you?", she teased.

Harry threw a pillow at Hermione, before turning to Mrs Granger to tell her about the rest of their day.

She listened as the two teens described the visit to Gringotts, the clothes shopping and then the dinner at the Skinners' Arms. It seemed that the two of them had done fine on their own, even choosing an appropriate and healthy place for dinner rather than fast food or sweets.

Mrs Granger looked over Harry's purchases to check that they were decent enough. It was one thing to let the two of them go shopping by themselves, but she at least wanted to make sure that Harry had enough _appropriate _clothing to take with him back to school. She was pleasantly surprised that the two had been sensible and done quite well. Harry would need a few more items, but nothing drastic. Just a belt, a pair of gloves and a warm hat. The gloves and hat were easy to overlook in the summer heat, but would be sorely missed in the Scottish weather, especially in winter.

"Well...I'm impressed. The two of you did well. You forgot a belt, hat and gloves but you can pick those up in Diagon alley when you pick up your school books for the year. Speaking of your school books, these arrived while you were out", Hermione beamed under the praise, but seemed to be used to it.

Mrs Granger produced the two large parchment envelopes from a side table, each embost with the Hogwarts "H" surrounded by the four house crests. Each had one of their names and address on it.

Harry looked down at his letter;

**Harry James Potter**

Guest bedroom

15 Kemplay Rd

Hampstead

London

Harry found it largely amusing that the letter they needed to tell them which school books to get from Diagon alley arrived _while they were at Diagon alley_. Hermione was more than a little put out thinking they could have done it all in one trip, but Harry stopped that quickly, "Mione there is absolutely _no way_ we could have done it all in one trip. Magic books aren't paperbacks, they are bloody heavy. There is no way our arms would have survived carrying those books around London all day, especially with all the extra books you apparently _need to have_."

Hermione glared at him but conceded the point and opened her letter. Harry followed suit with his.

Dear Mr Potter,

Congratulations on reaching your third year of magical education.

Enclosed is a list of your predicted results for the cancelled end of year examinations and a list of books for your upcoming year. Third-year students are permitted to visit the nearby village of Hogsmeade on selected weekends, but require permission from your parent/guardian. Please ask your parent/guardian to complete the enclosed permission slip if you wish to attend.

Yours sincerely

_Minerva McGonagall_

Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Harry checked his results first;

**Predicted Grades:**

Passing grades: **O** (_Outstanding_), **E **(_Exceeds Expectations_), **A **(_Acceptable_)

Fail grades: **P** (_Poor_), **D**(_Dreadful_), **T** (_Troll_)

Arithmetic: **E**

Astronomy: **A**

Charms: **E**

Defence against the Dark Arts: **UNCLASSIFIED**

English: **A**

Herbology: **A**

History of Magic: **P**

Latin: **P**

(Introduction to) Magical theory: **E**

Potions: **P**

Transfiguration: **E**

Wix world geography: **E**

Harry didn't think that he had done too bad. He was terrible at Latin and History of Magic, and he barely tried in those lessons, hence the failing grade. Since these were predicted grades he wasn't surprised Snape had given him a failing grade. Harry suspected that he would do a lot better with a fairer teacher. But 5 E's and 8 passes, possibly nine if they had a decent DADA Professor.

Secretly Harry thought that slaying a Basilisk and saving the school was worth extra credit for a DADA mark but professor McGonagall mustn't have thought so. He looked at the next part of his letter;

**Required Books your Third-Year:**

_The Standard Book of Spells Grade III,_ by Miranda Goshawk

_A Journeyman's Guide to Transfiguration_, by Emeric Switch

_The Monster Book of Monsters_, by Willie Bovin

_Spellman's Syllabary_, by Rosalia Craft

_The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts,_ by Arsenius Jigger

_1993-1994 academic Magical Almanac, _by Raven Magnolis

_Enchanting elixirs,_ by Odell Fiddlewood

Harry looked over his new books-list, including the books for his two new subjects; _The Monster Book of Monsters_ for Care of Magical Creatures and _Spellman's Syllabary_ for Ancient Runes. Harry had given some thought to attending divination with Ron but had decided against it. The idea of an easy grade did appeal to him but Hermione's argument that the subject just was not worth it if you didn't have the site pushed him into choosing a more practical class.

There were a lot of uses for Runes and Harry thought they seemed interesting enough. The clincher had been that when harry had gone to professor McGonagall about his idea for Hermione's hairband, she had sent him to professor Babbling. It had been the Runes professor that had talked harry through the creation of the hairband. After that how could he not take the class?

Hermione while talking harry out of divination had talked herself out of it at the same time. Hermione had tried to sign up for everything else though. Professor McGonagall had put a stop to that, saying "There just wasn't enough time to take that many classes!" In the end Hermione had been persuaded to drop Muggle Studies as Harry had pointed out the class was the one where she wouldn't actually learn anything, considering she lived with her parents during the holidays, who were muggles themselves.

"How did you do Harry?", Hermione was eager to see Harry's results so he swapped his results with her.

Hermione's predicted grades were a lot better than his, as he expected;

Arithmetic: **O**

Astronomy: **E**

Charms: **O**

Defence against the Dark Arts: **UNCLASSIFIED**

English: **O**

Herbology: **O**

History of Magic: **O**

Latin: **E**

(Introduction to) Magical theory: **O**

Potions: **A**

Transfiguration: **O**

Wix world geography: **E**

Well, if Harry ever needed proof that Snape didn't mark fairly it was Hermione's mark. Hermione's potions were always the exact shade described in the book and Harry knew for sure that a fair teacher would give hermione an O, anything less than an E was just Snape marking down Gryffindors like he always does.

"Well Harry, these aren't too bad, though you need to brush up on your languages and find a way to stay awake in professor Binns' classes. But considering you were focusing on all the stuff with the chamber and Snape marked you down like he always does, these are really good. If you focus a bit more there's no reason you won't do better next year."

Mrs granger took both of the reports and looked at them, "You did really well Hermione, like always. Harry, dear, you did fine and I don't have any of your previous school reports to compare it to so I will ask you. Do you think you did your best or do you think you could have done better?"

Harry turned pale. He had never had anyone care about his grades like this before. Whenever he'd brought a school report home to the Dursley's when he was younger, no matter how well he did his uncle would always find a reason to hit him, telling him he was a disgrace and an uneducated brat. They'd stopped after he'd gone to Hogwarts, as they didn't want to know what "dark rituals" he'd get up to at "that place".

"I… I could probably do better." Harry couldn't bring himself to look Mrs Granger in the face instead he looked at the new shoes he was wearing, bracing himself for the whip of a belt across his back or the blinding pain of a fist hitting his stomach.

"Harry, you aren't in trouble.", Mrs granger's voice was soft and soothing and while it prevented the panic that was starting to build in his chest it did nothing to relieve the guilt he was feeling.

"But i want you to think about something. You pay a lot of money to attend that school and to learn magic. The skills you learn there will determine how far you can go once you leave. Do you think that when you look back on your time at school you will be happy or do you think you will wish you had done more? It's your life to live Harry. The choices are yours but so are the consequences." Harry couldn't help it, he felt really bad about the effort he put in at school, especially in some classes. A trickle of tears leaked from his eyes as he considered the words spoken to him by someone he had only known a few days, but respected more than he ever had the Dursley's. "Now. I want you to go and get cleaned up for dinner and have a think on what we discussed."

Harry did just that and after a good long think, and more than a few tears, he promised himself that he would do better next time. The last thing he wanted to do was disappoint the Grangers.

AUTHOR'S NOTE'S

Ok, a few things to unpack here first the end of year results.

I know in cannon the students only got them after their OWL's and would probably have had them after the NEWT's if they had sat them. This makes little to no sense however. Without knowing the results of the end of year tests how are students meant to know what to work on and parents to know how their kids are doing. So in my version, they get end of year results.

The new subject's one of the things you are told in cannon is that students don't get free time until NEWT years there has to be extra classes that are dropped at OWL level for this to be true so:

Arithmetic - normal math

English - so they can write their essays

Latin - decose there had to a language and they use Latin for spells

(Introduction to) Magical theory - a catch-all

Wix world geography - because wizards and witches don't care what muggle says the country's borders are

Hope you all like the chapter now I'm working with Mattyscic as my bata.

Your comments are my motivation. I love Praze and could use some constructive criticism.


	9. Chapter 9 - The gift of news

Wednesday 11th august

Harry and Hermione had their summer homework spread out over the floor in the Grangers' living room. After Harry's discussion with Mrs Granger the week before, Harry had decided he needed to re-do all his summer homework from scratch, something Hermione was way to ecstatic about. While he felt that his professors would have accepted the work he had produced so far, Harry felt that he could no longer really accept it himself, not after what Mrs Granger had pointed out to him.

Right now they were working on his potions essay for Snape. Even though they knew he would not mark it fairly Harry could no longer use that as an excuse to slapdash it. Even if Snape was going to mark him down Harry was going to make it so that the greasy git had to really look for things to drop him marks on.

Hermione was all too willing to help, she held a grudge against Snape ever since the start of school. She'd constantly get grades of "E" or "A", even when her potion was identical to Malfoy's, who always achieved an "O".

Harry was just finishing a paragraph on the use of diluted boobo tuber puss in healing potions, when a news report on the television caught his attention.

Maximum security prisoner escapes.

A prisoner from one of Britain's maximum-security prisons is tonight on the loose.

Bellatrix LeStrange formally Black was convicted in November of 81' on

multiple counts of murder and the torture of a police officer and his wife.

It is unknown where Lestrange is headed but she grew up in the central London area and settled in Yorkshire with her husband,

who was convicted with her. LeStrange is to be considered armed and dangerous.

If you see her do not attempt to approach her.

Please call the number on screen if you have any information as to her whereabouts.

Harry was a little taken aback by the news, not by what it said but by the video clip of LeStrange.

"Hey 'Mione? That news article just now. Did you see it?", Hermione frowned at him, "What about it Harry?",

"Is it me or did LeStrange look a lot like Malfoy's mother?", Hermione considered this, "I don't know Harry I haven't really looked at her before, I've only seen her once in passing dropping Draco off for the express. But if she is related to his mother wouldn't that make her magical? Why would she be on the muggle news?" Harry thought about it. It really didn't make sense. He raised another point, "consider the date of her conviction though. November of 1981, that was just after...", he hesitated for a second, "...after my parents died. What if she was one of his followers?"

Hermione frowned again. The dates did matchup, but it did harry no good to dwell on his parent's demise, it always twisted him in knots the last thing he needed was to think that one of the people that followed the murderer of his parents was free.

"Harry it's probably got nothing to do with, He-Whose-Name-Must-Be-Hyphenated", that got a dry chuckle out of Harry, and Hermione counted it as a win. "Chances are she is just some crazy muggle who needs to spend a lot of time behind bars. Maybe with a therapist or three. Besides, if one of his followers had escaped prison Dumbledore would have sent you a letter or something, telling you to stay safe."

That got Harry to calm down. Yes, if there was an escaped Death Eater running loose Dumbledore would have warned him with a letter.

"Harry, you may want to check this paragraph on diluted boobo tuber puss I don't think it is used in draughts for upset stomachs." harry pulled his essay back to him. If Hermione was right (and she almost always was) then he would have to rewrite that section. And without magic to vanish the ink off the page, that would mean rewriting the whole essay. He pulled his copy of 1001 magical herbs and fungi towards him and started leafing through, looking for the entry on boobo tubers, praying that for once Hermione was wrong. He didn't think his wrist could take another round like that today.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Saturday 14th august

Harry sat in his room at the Grangers, spending some quality time with Hedwig. Her feathers were back now and she was flying again. It was taking time for her to rebuild her wing muscles, after being unable to fly for a week, but her love of flying was pushing her and it wouldn't be long before his girl was back to full strength.

Harry was just considering changing the paper underneath her perch when a rather large barn owl came swooping in Harry's open window. The owl landed on Harry's bed and waited for him to untie its burden. With the owl freed it flew over to Hedwig and joined her on her perch. Hedwig shifted to the one side to make room for the owl. While Harry didn't recognise the owl he had a feeling that Hedwig did. So when Hedwig decided not to make a fuss over sharing her water bowl with the owl-like she usually did, Harry left them to it. Instead turning his attention to the package in his arms.

The delivery consisted of a letter and parcel. The parcel was shaking slightly and seemed to be trying to move. Harry decided against opening it for now, and opted to open the safe option of the letter first;

Dear Harry,

sorry, its late but Happy Birthday! Think you might find this useful for next year.

Won't say no more here. Tell you when I see you.

Had to wait for your present to be delivered before I could send it on to you.

I heard that you run from the muggles you were living with.

Well, they weren't very nice. I can see why you don't want to be around them much.

I hope you're fine and that the Grangers are good to you.

All the best, Hagrid

Harry picked up the parcel that was wrapped in brown paper. Written directly on the paper in Hagrid's untidy scrawl were the words "happy birthday Harry". Harry started to unwrap the present from his first and oldest friend. As he removed the multiple layers of paper he could feel the package start to vibrate a little more as he started removing the last layer of paper, he saw what looked like green leather. However, before he could finish unwrapping it the package tried to bite him.

Harry wouldn't call himself a coward. Oh the contrary, he had a tendency to walk into dangerous situations full and well knowing that they could get him killed. Trolls, a three-headed dog named Fluffy, a dark wizard, giant spiders, Basilisks, another dark wizard. He had had many a dangerous venture in his first two years at Hogwarts. The key word was _knowing_. When harry knew something dangerous was coming, he was fine. But if harry wasn't getting ready for a fight, and he was, say, opening a birthday present from one of his oldest and most _trusted _friends, and when that same present tried to bite him, Harry screamed. Harry screamed in such a way that a few more years and puberty would probably render him incapable of doing.

Harry threw the package across the room, where it landed next to the wardrobe with a growl. Free of Harry the package shook off the last of the brown paper, revealing it as a book. Harry was just able to make out the title; "The Monster Book of Monsters", before the book started doing an impression of a crab and trying to make its way under the wardrobe, wreaking havoc on Harry's unguarded essay on the floor.

Harry jumped across the room trying to grab the book before he had to resort to moving the Grangers furniture, to retrieve it. Of course, that's when Hermione opened the door to his room. Drawn by Harry's less than manly shriek of terror, his girlfriend, who happened to have a lot of experience with Harry in dangerous situations burst into the room to find harry rolling on the floor wrestling with a book.

A little embarrassed by the situation, Harry tried for nonchalant "Hey Hermione. Nice weather we are having at the moment..." Hermione was baffled by the sight on the ground in front of her. Here she was, watching her boyfriend have a fight _with a book_ while he tried to talk to her about the weather. Oh, and it looked like the book was winning. "Harry...do you need any help with that?", Harry continued his struggle with the book, before finally managing to fight it closed and wrap his arms around it to keep it that way. "If..", Harry muttered, he was seriously out of breath, "If you could get me the old belt… from my trunk, it would be… a big help."

Hermione pulled open Harry's trunk and found the dusty belt that was way to long for harry. She then wrapped the belt a few times around the book and fastened the belt closed.

"Harry, why do you have a biting book?", Harry turned the cover of the book so she could read the title. Her eyes danced over the title and one of Hermione's more curious expressions crossed her face. she understood something but was now confused about something else. Guessing that she wondered where he got the book from he handed her Hagrid's letter. Hermione took the letter and began reading, as Hermione's eyes danced over the text she grew incredibly pale. She dropped the letter and ran out of the room. Harry, worried about Hermione, threw the book onto the bed, where it landed with a growl and followed her "Hermione? What's wrong? Are you Ok?".

He found her in her room, she was reaching under her bed looking for something. Honestly, if Harry hadn't been so worried about her reaction to the letter he might have found the sight rather appealing. For now, though, his thoughts were focused on making sure Hermione was alright.

Hermione pulled a small polished mahogany chest, about the size of a biscuit tin, from under her bed. She stood up and looked at harry on the verge of tears.

"Harry I'm so sorry. I completely forgot. Well not completely but then i did and now its been so long I'm so, so sorry Harry.", he put his hands on her shoulders to stop her babbling, "Hermione it's ok. _Whatever _it is, it's ok."

She held out the chest to Harry, "I got you this for your birthday. Only i couldn't get to the post office in Diagon alley to send it to you. I planned to go the day after your birthday. But then you were here and you and Hedwig were hurt and Director Bones was here, then i was taking Hedwig to Diagon and you were telling us about your relatives then there was shopping and and our results, I'm really sorry Harry i just completely forgot to give it to you, And i tried so hard to find a gift that you would like but that would come from me."

Harry set the box down on the bed next to them and pulled Hermione into a hug, her run-on sentence was one of the things she did when she was genuinely upset over something. "I love it.", Hermione snorted against his chest, "You haven't even opened it yet. You don't even know what it is."

Harry nodded, "That's right. It's from you. It doesn't matter if it's the perfect gift or a signed photo of the Dursleys. It's from you so I love it.", Hermione took a minute to put together what he meant, before gasping and trying to pull away. Harry held her in the hug, loving the feeling of them touching, before pulling away himself.

Harry picked up the box and examined it. The mahogany was polished smooth, almost to a mirror shine, but that was it. There were no hints at what might be inside the chest. He flipped open the brass clasp and pulled up the lid off the chest.

At first, Harry wasn't entirely sure what it was. There were random assortments of items; well, random items presented in a really nice case. He pulled out the book that was on top of the pile in there and read the title.

**Broomstick Servicing Kit**

_Self-servicing guide_

The guide to keeping your broom sharp and clean,

complete with diagrams, handy tips and information from professional Quidditch players!

_By Evangeline Swift_

Harry then realised the purpose of the items within the chest; it was a complete broomstick servicing kit. As he looked through the pots, jars and tubes he noticed items that he'd seen his Gryffindor teammates using on their own brooms. There was a tub of high-grade, non-slip wood polish, a set of clippers to trim damaged tail twigs, there was even a compass for long flights so that you didn't get lost, along with around twelve other items that all had a part to play in maintaining a broom.

Harry set the kit back on the bed. While he had been examining his present he hadn't noticed that Hermione was standing still, watching him nervously. Harry absolutely loved his present and he had to show her how much he appreciated it. He considered what he should say but all the words rang hollow in his head, so instead he just wrapped his arms around her and leaned in to kiss her. Hermione also leaned in and responded happily to his affection.

While this wasn't their first kiss, there was something special about this one, more so than the one that had happened in the hospital wing not long before Hermione had returned to classes with cat ears. It was the first time Harry had instigated such a kiss. Sure he had given Hermione a few pecks on the cheek and even one or two on the lips, but real kisses like this, up until now they had always been started by Hermione. Harry wanted, no _needed,_ in that moment to show her how much he loved his gift, his gratitude that the Grangers' let him stay, how much he appreciated everything she had done for him this summer and just how much he felt for her even if he couldn't say it yet. He wanted to show her most of all, how much love he held for her, his girlfriend.

Authors note-

No reel note's this week once again thank you to Mattyscic who has done an excellent job as my bata.

Once again your comments mean a lot to me.

the next chapter will be Wednesday.

Till then I will see you in the comet section


	10. Chapter 10 - Diagon Alley

Daniel Granger was going over some office work in the spare time between clients. Owning a business has a lot of perks, but he and Emma had found a number of downsides, and one of these was the paperwork. There seemed to be paperwork for everything; it was like he couldn't even buy a box of tea bags without filling out three different types of paperwork.

Right now he was going over the papers to replace some of their older equipment. Their dental drills, in particular, were in dire need of replacement, having been in use for almost ten years. He flipped through a few quotes given to him and one caught his eye; it was a local company that made a pitch to the network of dentists in London that helped cover each other if they had an overflow or it was specialized work a client needed. The quote was fairly good. They were offering a discount if the whole network upgraded with them at once. He was just about to sign off on the deal when something else snatched his attention.

He picked up the paper and went to see his wife, only to find she was with a patient. He waited outside her office for a few minutes while she finished up a routine filling replacement for the patient that liked toffee more than they should. Once the patient had left he joined her in her treatment room before she could call her next patient. "Hey, honey take a look at this for me will you. Tell me if you see what I see", he held out the paperwork to her, then watched as she began to read it. He knew the exact moment that she saw it; her eyes went wide and her grip on the paper turned her knuckles white, she was gripping it so hard.

**Grunnings** \- specialized drills

C.E.O - Vernon Dursley

"I knew I'd heard that name somewhere. The fucking git is trying to sell us drills." It was only the fact that Daniel didn't want to scare off the clients in the waiting room that kept him from raising his voice. "I'm going to ruin him...by the time I'm finished he won't sell a single dental drill in London ever again. There is no way I am letting our friends and colleagues give money to that piece of human filth." He continued on his rant for a few minutes before his wife finally interrupted.

"Dan, you need to ask Harry first before you do anything,'' that brought a look of confusion to his face, "What? Why? They are our friends." Emma gave her husband one of the more dangerous looks of hers that he had learned over the years. This one was 'You can be such an idiot sometimes', "Because, honey, it's up to Harry if he wants to tell people or even let us tell people. He is the one who has to live with them knowing what happened to him." Dan didn't like it but his wife was right. He still knew that he could at least stop this deal from happening, though it required the unanimous decision of everyone in the network. This deal was definitely not going to get the approval of Granger & Granger dental surgery.

He went back to the office area and went to put the deal in the shredder when a thought struck him. Maybe he would let the deal play out a little more before pulling out. It wasn't uncommon to have a company like Grunnings try and butter up people who were looking to place large orders, maybe he could see how much of Vernon Dursley's money he could waste before ruining the deal. And maybe if he could get the go ahead from Harry ruin a bit more than the deal.

Daniel sat back in his old comfortable office chair and began to plot. If he was going to do this he was going to do it right.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry, Hermione and both Mr and Mrs Granger were at Diagon Alley. It was time for the annual back to school shopping trip that was equally exciting and sad. For Harry and Hermione, it was a sign that they would be going back to Hogwarts, a place they loved, which just showed how good it could be there, considering some of their experiences. It was also sad because it meant leaving; the teenagers would be parted from Mr and Mrs granger until Christmas. Harry had already been informed he was coming back for the holiday. Harry was a little shocked to realise just how much he would miss the two dentists who had lovingly taken him in.

He had expected the gratitude he felt weighing down on him, they had done so much for him. He'd even expected that he would like the two of them. But the sense of losing something, losing someone, when going to Hogwarts was completely alien to him. He wondered if that's what the other students felt when they left behind their families for the year. And even what that said about how Harry viewed the Grangers.

They had already visited Gringotts, Harry popping down to his vault to gather his gold while the Grangers had exchanged their muggle pounds into wizarding currency. Hermione was pushing to go to Flourish and Blotts first but everyone was putting their foot down on that. "Honey those books are quite heavy, if we buy them first we'll have to carry them around the entire time. If we buy them last our arms just might survive the day." Mrs Granger reasoned.

Harry had a suggestion, "Why don't we have a look in Bagdull's trunks & bags, my school trunk is too small to fit all my books in now and I'm guessing that 'Mione might need an upgrade as well." Hermione admitted that she didn't think she was going to fit all her books in her trunk this year and was planning to leave some of them at home. Once she'd explained the undetectable extension charm to her parents again reminding them about her hairband, Mrs Granger thought that the expanded trunk was a good idea. Mr Granger was to busy making 'Dr Who' references again, to voice an opinion on the matter.

So the four of them made their way to Bagdull's, the outside of the shop must have been the smallest in Diagon, barely more than a door with a sign hanging over it, proclaiming Bagdull's trunks & bags - _custom expand luggage to order. _They filled into the shop expecting stairs that lead to another floor, but were surprised to find an extremely spacious area just inside the door. This prompted another bout of 'Dr Who' quotes from Mr Granger. This sparked a chuckle from behind the display of trunks, it came from the man who'd just walked out from behind them, smiling broadly.

"Good afternoon, I'm Tobias Bagdull, welcome to my shop. It's easy to spot those raised by muggles when they come in, a lot of them make references to that show. So much that I had to get my wife to explain it to me. Well...what can I do for you today? By the looks of it you are here to look at a trunk for Hogwarts?" He waited for them to confirm his suspicions. It wasn't much of a leap, two teens this close to the start of term.

"Well it that's the case, this is the catalogue you'll want", he handed them two identical booklets, and two sheets of parchment. "Just write out a list of the features you want from the catalogue and I'll whip up your trunks within the hour." Harry and Hermione both started looking at the catalogues to see what could be done, which turned out to be quite a lot. The trunks could have up to seven compartments, each opened when a different key was used in the single lock. The range of ways each compartment could be customised was staggering, from the basic same size as a standard trunk right up to ten foot by ten foot rooms (although the ten foot by ten foot rooms were 80 gallons each, before you added any furniture. more than a little out of their price range.)

After a lot of back and forth between the four of them, both Harry and Hermione decided to each get the same 3 compartments, each was to be 4 ft wide, 2 ft deep and 6ft tall and a cupboard that popped up when the lid was opened. One of the compartments was to be a wardrobe; another a bookshelf, and the last one for storage of general items, such as cauldrons, broomsticks and potion kits. The trunks came out at ten galleons each, or almost £50 in muggle money, but when you looked at it as buying three trunks the price was a lot more reasonable.

Hermione almost caused an argument when Harry insisted on buying her trunk for her. "Harry James Potter you do not need to go wasting your money on me like that.", he cut her off before she could build up a full head of steam. "Hermione. This is the last chance I have to do any shopping before we are back at school and it's your birthday in a few weeks. This is my present to you." that took the wind out of Hermione's anger before it was able to get going. "You are _impossible _sometimes Harry." but her words lacked any heat. "Thank you. I love it." she pulled him into a light hug knowing that both of them would be uncomfortable with more affection around strangers.

After leaving Bagdull's they headed for Madam Malkin's robes store; both Harry and Hermione needed new robes for the upcoming year. Malkin's had a bit of a queue, mostly of other Hogwarts students waiting to purchase their own robes. In the shop, there was a Gryffindor sixth year and a Hufflepuff fourth year that they knew well enough to say hi to but nothing more than that. They browsed the selection of accessories while Mr and Mrs Granger held their place in line. Harry picked out a set of dragonhide gloves with a matching belt that he took a liking to, as well as a hat and scarf set after remembering Mrs Granger's words about what they'd forgotten from their last trip to Diagon Alley. Hermione picked out a three-piece set of knitwear that was periwinkle blue, and consisted of a pair of gloves, a hat and a scarf. They rejoined the queue with the older Grangers and soon after, each of them was in possession of three new sets of school robes.

After that it was a quick trip to Scribbulus next door to buy a couple of new quills, and some ink and parchment. Harry bought himself a rather nice glass quill with an unbreakable charm on it. While technically it was against the school rules, that rule was relaxed after the first year. They wanted students to break their quills and spill ink in their first year. It got them used to using the reparo and tergio spells and helped reinforce the message that they could do magic as well as providing good focusing practice.

It was then onto Slug & Jiggers; Hermione only had to refill about half of her ingredients, having done a better job than Harry of keeping her's topped up for the year. Although harry still had some ingredients, it turned out that it was cheaper for him to buy a complete kit of basic potion ingredients, the same as he had done the first year, when he was here with Hagrid on his first-ever trip to Diagon Alley.

It turned out that he wasn't the only one who had the idea to get Hermione a birthday present at Diagon Alley. Hermione's parents had decided that they would finally allow Hermione to have a pet. When he'd asked about it, Mr Granger told him that Hermione had been relentlessly asking her parents for a pet since before her first year, as well as in her second year, but for reasons that were not elaborated on, they had refused. This year however, they felt things were different and they granted Hermione her wish, though they warned her that she'd have to take responsibility for whatever familiar she picked. She'd agreed quickly, nodding her head enthusiastically, and with that, they were off to Magical Menagerie to pick out a pet.

The four of them could barely squeeze into the shop. The walls themselves were hidden because each and every square inch was hidden behind a cage of all sorts. The smell and noise of the shop was an assault on the senses as each of the cage's occupants tried to make itself known. A pair of enormous purple toads sat gulping wetly and feasting on the dead blowflies that buzzed around them. A gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the window. Poisonous orange snails were oozing slowly up the side of their glass tank; there were cats of every colour, a noisy cage of ravens, a basket of funny custard-coloured furballs that were humming loudly, and on the counter, a vast cage of sleek black rats which were playing some sort of skipping game using their long skinless tails. The witch behind the counter was already talking to one Hogwarts student about an ill toad that he possessed.

Neville Longbottom was looking for advice on how to treat his sick toad Trevor, "He got sick over the summer. It wasn't too bad at first, but now he's not eating and I'm getting a little worried..."

The witch behind the counter took a pair of glasses out of one of her pockets, "Well pop him on the counter and let's have a look at him", Neville gingerly took the sick toad out of his front breast pocket and placed him gently on the counter in front of the witch. While she was examining Trevor, Harry and Hermione took the opportunity to greet Neville, who was looking sick himself, only with worry.

"Hey Nev, how's your summer been?" He turned around and saw them standing behind him, "Harry! Hermione! It's so good to see you", Neville grinned widely as he embraced Hermione in a little hug, obviously happy to see them. He looked at them both in turn, his eyes settling on Hermione's seeming lack of cat ears, though he knew better; "Hermione you look… um... Normal again. Did they finally figure out how to undo the effects?" Neville's phrasing was a little bad but she knew that he meant it in a nice way, "unfortunately, no. Harry got me this headband to help me in the muggle world. It's easier to just leave it on in Diagon as well as we came and are leaving through Muggle London."

"So, Harry's staying with you?", he turned to harry, "There was a rumour going around that you ran away from your muggle relatives after a fight. Are you OK?" Harry scoffed at that, "I'm doing better now that I don't have to live with them anymore, but I don't really want to talk about it right now", Neville gave him a confused but also pitied look, then just nodded. "Ok I won't ask, but if you ever need to talk, I'm here for you", Harry appreciated that; he knew he and Neville had never been too close. It was Hermione, Ron and him at first and after everything that happened with Hermione and the chamber, and then the way Ron reacted, Harry had been focusing solely on her. But here Neville was, offering help and comfort without any hesitation. Neville was a good guy.

"Neville! Are you done?" a formidable-looking witch came over, wearing long green dress robes and an unusual hat that had a stuffed vulture atop it. She stopped next to them, smiling at Neville, "Oh, are these friends of yours Neville? Why don't you introduce us Dear."

Neville coughed awkwardly, before making the standard introductions, "Gran this is Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. Hermione is a fellow Gryffindor and the top student of our year, and of course, Harry needs little introduction. Harry, Hermione, this is my grandmother, Madam Augusta Longbottom."

Harry stepped forward, taking the lady's outstretched hand, "it's a pleasure to meet you Ma'am", the grip Madam Longbottom had in her handshake was strong, strong enough that Harry winced slightly. He would not have thought her capable of it at first, "And you Mr Potter. I guess you get tired of hearing this but you are the spitting image of your father when he was your age, except...he was a little taller", Harry frowned at this; people compared him to his father a lot, almost every time, but Madam Longbottom was the first to point out that he was shorter than his father. Harry wondered if this was because of his mother or the way the Dursleys had treated him. With his aunt being on the tall side for women he suspected he knew the answer.

While he pondered this Hermione had greeted Madam Longbottom in the same manner, and introduced her own parents to the Longbottoms, "we were just asking Neville how his summer was", Hermione effortlessly kept the conversation flowing while Harry was distracted, "Well it was going splendidly until that vile LeStrange woman broke out of Azkaban. Now we have to think of that Death Eater running around freely while she should be locked away from good upstanding people", that snapped Harry out of his ruminations.

"Wait...Bellatrix LeStrange is a witch? I thought so when i saw her face on the muggle news", Hermione shifted uncomfortably. She had talked him out of believing that the escaped convict was a witch, but it seemed Harry's speculation had been right after all. Neville, however, went still, as though if he moved a muscle he'd lose his composure.

"Yes Mr Potter. She is a witch, though I must confess my surprise that you were not already aware of this, all things considered," Madam Longbottom stated bluntly, implying that if not Harry himself, someone had been extraordinarily thick. "No one has ever spoken to me about her. Though I thought she looked a lot like Draco Malfoy's mother, and I know that his father was a follower of Voldemort's", the two purebloods visibly jumped at the name and Hermione flinched. But harry continued regardless, "So given the date of her conviction that was on the muggle news, I guess LeStrange was one of Voldemort's followers as well?"

The Longbottoms jumped a second time but this time Hermione didn't. She knew that sometimes Harry liked to keep using the name, trying to get people over their fear of it. Considering some of what the Longbottoms were saying though, she wondered if it was a bad idea in this case.

The witch, who had been examining Trevor, got Neville's attention, "It looks like your toad has a bit of an infection. This potion here should help him be right as rain in a few days, shall I ring it up for you?" Neville looked relieved at the news. He complained about trevor every now and then, but given how much effort he put into finding him again when he got lost, it was easy to see he cared about his familiar a lot. Neville bought the potion and was about to say his goodbyes when his grandmother spoke up, "Harry there are a few things you should have been told about that witch as soon as she escaped. I don't have time right now but could you join me and Neville for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, in about an hour? The Grangers are of course welcome as well", Harry quickly conferred with the Grangers and it was soon agreed that they would meet up.

Afterwards Neville and his grandmother took their leave and Harry, Hermione and her parents resumed their search for a Hermione's familiar. Hermione made her way around the cages, inspecting the animals; the black rats began working together as a team performing tricks as she inspected them, the toads began croaking out tunes, the ravens tried to look dignified as they said pre-learned phrases like "On the road to wisdom, behave like a raven and observe everything carefully!" and "a circle has no beginning!", even the jewel-encrusted tortoise from the window lit up his jewels in a rainbow of colours.

None of this seemed to hold Hermione's attention, however, it was around the cats where things got interesting. Every single cat in the shop sat up and paid eerily close attention to Hermione as she approached their cages. All except one, there was a ginger tom who, unlike the other cats, wasn't in a cage. Or more accurately, his/her cage had no front to keep the cat in. This particular cat watched Hermione as well but with one eye closed, feigning disinterest in a way that seemed to come naturally to cats. Hermione looked at the cat interestedly, but moved on after reading the sign over the cat's perch.

Crookshanks - Half-Kneazle Tom

Temperament: unpersonable

As Hermione moved to look at the next cage, Crookshanks' paw flashed out faster than the eye could see, swiping at Hermione's hair-band. The hairband in question was easily dislodged and flew across the room into Harry's face. This had two effects; firstly, Hermione's cat ears where now on full display. Not so much a problem here, in an environment where everyone at least knows about magic. Secondly Harry, while rubbing the area around his eye where the tartan hair-band had struck, missed the next few seconds of the interaction between Hermione and the apparently grumpy cat. The grumpiness was only apparent because the cat was now in Hermione's arms, rubbing his face into her's, purring like an idling motorbike.

It was hard to tell what shocked the shopkeeper more. The fact that Hermione suddenly had cat ears or that his moody Crookshanks actually seemed to like someone. It mattered little in the end, as soon the cat-eared girl was leaving the shop with her new Half-Kneazle in her arms and her mysterious hair-band back where it belonged, much to the annoyance of the ginger cat in her arms. "No Crookshanks, I need to wear it till I get home, then you can see my ears, I promise,'' Hermione placated the cat, then it was a trip back to Bagdull's for their previously purchased trunks.

Hermione's new trunk was the same shade of blue as her winter knitwear she'd bought earlier. It had an iridescent purple sheen, with a mirror-smooth finish and pale copper metal adornings; she loved it. Harry's was made of walnut that had been buffed and polished into a honey-like, golden-yellow brown. His trunk had black-coated iron metalwork that Harry personally thought looked amazing, though Hermione said it seemed quite gloomy. They each moved their day's purchases into their trunks, freeing up their hands from all the bags they were carrying. The trunks' had inbuilt wheels, which were only on the one side, making them easier to handle than the bags.

The last stop for the day was long-awaited, on Hermione's part. Flourish and Blotts bookstore. Hermione was almost shaking with anticipation, reciting the books from her school book list under her breath. "For charms, The Standard Book of Spells Grade III, A Journeyman's Guide to Transfiguration for McGonagall, for Care of Magical Creatures The Monster Book of Monsters. I don't know _what _Professor Kettleburn was thinking setting that book. Numerology and Gramatica for Professor Vector's class. The Spellman's Syllabary for Ancient Runes. The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts, I wonder who the new DADA professor is... The book sounds promising. 1993-1994 academic Magical Almanac for Astronomy and snape set Enchanting elixirs."

She kept this up the entire way to the shop. As They entered Flourish and Blotts, the Manager came hurrying towards them, "Hogwarts?" she asked abruptly, "Come to get your new books for the term?"

"Yes, in fact, we need –" Hermione began up her mental catalogue once again. "I know what you need," the Manager quickly interrupted, before she could get too excited. She grimaced as she drew on a pair of very thick gloves and picked up a large, knobbly walking stick. She then proceeded towards a cage near the corner of the room, far out of the way of the other shelves and books. It was labelled; "The Monster Book of Monsters."

Harry spoke up, "we only need one of those. I already have one." The manager looked a little relieved at that. Harry, who'd already predicted the next problem from his own experience with the book, pulled a length of nylon cord from his pocket that he'd found in one of the kitchen drawers at the Grangers. He had specifically brought it to deal with Hermione's monster book. He was about to go help the Manager when Hermione, having had a similar idea, pulled a roll of regular muggle tape from her bag. The two teens looked at each other, smiling that they had the same plan. "The cord will be better for the book", Mrs Granger supplied, giving Harry the push he needed.

Two minutes and three minor bites later, Harry victoriously handed Hermione the tied up monster book. The Manager glanced at the book that was now safe to handle, then a thought struck her and she had an idea, disappearing down a hallway further into the shop. Harry and Hermione started going through the display of educational books that Flourish and Blotts put out every summer, picking up the ones they definitely needed and taking a quick peek at others that seemed interesting. Soon they each had their stack of required books, eight for Hermione and six for Harry, who had one book already and was taking one less subject.

The manager came back holding a book open. She checked the book a few times, then with a slight blush and flourish of her wand she said, "Shibarius*". Ropes shot from her wand and tied up each of the monster books in a way that looked almost artistic. Hermione, after seeing the results of the spell, asked the manager about the book but was told that the book was restricted to people of age.

Harry asked the manager about how they were meant to read the book, but she didn't have a clue. "They sent a stack of leaflets with the bloody things, you know with instructions about opening the book, but the dam things shredded the leaflets. I swear if the boss stocks these things again I'm storing them in his office, and locking him in there with them."

After that Hermione and harry went searching again for any other books that took their fancy, now that they'd made their required purchases. Hermione found two more books to add to her already enormous and ever-growing book collection; 'A compendium of household charms - 157 spells to make a witch or wizard's life easier', and a 'Rune Dictionary'. Harry, on the other hand, had found something more his style, 'Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed', it didn't contain anything _too _dangerous, but some that might have their uses after he next fell victim to another one of the Twins' pranks.

When the grout left the bookstore, their coin purses were considerably lighter, even if their trunks weren't. They were a bit early for lunch with the Longbottoms and after a day of shopping in the blazing August sun, the four of them took a much needed break at Florean Fortescue's, each with an ice-cold glass of lemonade, taking the opportunity to relax.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Author's notes **

*Shibarius - from the japanese "Shibari"; a type of artistic, and often sexual, rope bondage.

Ok so vernans drill company. In cannon we are told they make drill's. not power tools. Just drills so in my version they make a variety of specialist drills for different specific jobs. It just seemed like a good idea that they would also make dental drills.

Thankyou to everyone who has reviewed this so far i love your feedback and encouragement

Special thanks once again to mattyscic. Dude you rock


	11. Chapter 11 - Longbottom

**Chapter 11 - Longbottom's Woe **

Harry and the Grangers had arrived at the Leaky Cauldron about 5 minutes before they were due to meet the Longbottoms, but Neville was already waiting for them His gran had arranged to use one of the private dining rooms for the lunch. Neville lead them to the room, looking rather dejected as he did so. It was this mood of Neville's that put Harry on edge, just how bad was the information he was about to be told?

The dining room was nice enough; it had one large table that was big enough for them all to sit around, with even a couple of spaces to spare. They exchanged pleasantries and made small talk while they waited for their food to arrive. When Harry was just about to tuck into his lunch; a bacon, spinach and cheese Quiche served with a sundried tomato salad, the first of the bombshells hit.

"Harry...Bellatrix LeStrange is going to try and kill you", as bombshells went this one was a little underwhelming, at least for Harry. He nodded, "I suspected as much when you confirmed she was one of…his followers", he had almost used Voldemort's name but they were just starting on their food and Harry felt he should be nice. He tried a bit of his Quiche, it needed a bit more salt which he added.

"Honestly I don't know how to feel about this one. She isn't the only one out to kill me." Madam Longbottom gave Harry an odd look, "Harry. Bellatrix is not like the other Death Eaters-" Harry interrupted, "Death Eaters?" Madam Longbottom frowned at the interruption, "It was the name of You-Know-Who's followers. As I was saying Bellatrix is not like the other Death Eaters. Normally they wore heavy robes and masks, and used magic to disguise who they were. That was part of why everyone was so afraid; you didn't know who was with him. It was possible for your own brother to turn on you. Bellatrix, however, was one of his most fanatical, she rarely, if ever, bothered to hide who she was. She stood openly by You-Know-Who's side whenever he took the field. And despite everyone knowing who she was working for, she was never captured or taken in while you know who was alive. And believe me, they tried. Bellatrix LeStrange was personally responsible for the death of over fifteen fully trained Aurors during the blood war."

That was a resume that Harry sat up and listened to. Yes, he had fought for his life before, but never against someone like that at full power. Every time he had fought Voldemort he had been diminished, and was, in some way, a shade of his former self. Harry almost lost control at his terrible pun but was able to keep a straight face, "If she was so dangerous how did they catch her in the end?"

It was an innocent question that came up naturally in the conversation, but the sudden shift in the Longbottoms was horrible. Harry felt as guilty as if he had plunged a knife into their hearts. And it looked like his question had hurt them that much. "It was my son and his wife, Neville's parents. Bellatrix came after them after You-Know-Who died. Before Bellatrix and a group of Death Eaters were able to break in Frank was able to send a message to the ministry asking for help." Madam Longbottom's voice got weaker and weaker, as each word looked to be ripping open her heart a little more. Neville took over, "The Ministry aurors showed up in time to catch those who did it...but not in time to save my parents."

The room fell silent as the words hit the Grangers and Harry. And Harry felt them, hard.

If anyone could sympathise with someone who had had their parents murdered by a psychotic maniac, it was The-Boy-Who-lived. Harry realised that LeStrange was like the Longbottom's personal Voldemort. And now Neville had to deal with having the person who killed his parents being on the loose.

"Nev...I don't know what to say, man...I know how much it sucks to grow up without your parents", the words that Harry had meant to be comforting hit Neville like a physical blow, making him flinch back; he looked like he was about to be sick. Mr Granger spoke up quickly, upon seeing Neville's shaky physical state, "this topic is clearly causing more than a little distress," he looked at Harry and the Longbottoms, both looked devastated. Not that his wife and daughter looked particularly happy.

"Maybe it's best if we put this off to another time?" Madam Longbottom steeled herself and then shook her head, "No, Harry needs to know this. His magical guardian should have told him this stuff bit by bit as he grew up, now, however, we have got to the point where we need to 'rip off the aid-band', I believe this is a muggle term?"

"Rip off the band-aid" corrected Mrs Granger. Madam Longbottom nodded her thanks in return. "What's a magical guardian and who is mine?" asked Harry. He was still woefully oblivious to some things in the Wizarding world. Hermione spoke up first, "A magical guardian is a witch or wizard who takes responsibility for muggle raised children when it is impossible for their muggle relatives to do so. This can be a witch or wizard that the parents know if they happen to know any. But if none is chosen, then once a child attends Hogwarts, their Head of House has that responsibility. So mine and yours is Professor McGonagall."

Madam Longbottom took a good look at Hermione and nodded in approval, "A good summary that is mostly right. And the part you got wrong is a good lead into what Harry needs to know. Harry...Professor McGonagall is not your magical guardian. You see, while you grew up in the muggle world, you were not born there. Your parents had another option open to them. You have Godparents." Harry was a little taken aback by this, if he had Godparents, why on Earth was he raised by the Dursleys? "In fact my daughter-in-law Alice is your godmother. She and your mother where at school together and both found themselves pregnant with you and Neville at the same time. You probably know that your Birthdays' are only a day apart." Harry hadn't known their Birthdays' were so close but he had known Neville had his Birthday in the summer holidays as well.

"Well this lead to the two becoming very close and they each named each other the Godmother to their son almost as soon as you were born." Harry stared at Neville incredulously. If their mothers had lived, the two of them would have known each other their entire life. "After you stopped you-know-who, you were hidden from the magical world to keep you safe. Bellatrix LeStrange thought that if she killed you she could take control of his followers and lead them herself. Somehow LeStrange found out about our Alice, LeStrange assumed that your godmother knew where you were. Sh… she. She tortured my son and his wife looking to kill you, Harry. She tortured them until their minds' broke. They are at St Mungo's now, still alive...but their minds are gone."

The Grangers were stunned. None of them knew what to say. In truth, there was nothing to say. The words to bring comfort to people who reveal a story like that just didn't exist. For a few minutes, the only sound was the drip of freely flowing tears that each of the Hogwarts students were shedding. The adult Granger looked like theirs could start at any moment. Madam Longbottom, however, looked the worst for wear, as though she'd already shed all of her tears long ago and didn't have any more left.

"Before Alice was hospitalized she was trying to find you. She fully intended to raise you with Neville as she had promised your mother. But she couldn't find you. After Bellatrix, it took me some time to pull myself together. When i did i tried to get custody of you. I wanted to honour what Alice and my frank tried to do. But when I petitioned the wizengamot i was informed that you were already assigned a magical guardian and that the matter was closed. I never found out who it was but Minerva McGonagall. Is an old friend of mine i would know if it was her."

That was a lot for harry to take in. on top of everything else that he had learned. There was some unknown person who he didn't know about who could decide things in his life. It was creepy to think some unknown person was watching him and worse to know that whoever it was they never stopped the Dursleys.

"Harry", he focused on Madam Longbottom, "I want you to make me a promise. I want you to promise me and Neville that you will stay away from LeStrange. After what my son and Neville's mother gave up to keep her from you. Promise us you'll stay safe. Please." It was a blatant manipulation and everyone in the room knew it, even Harry. That didn't make the words any less true however. And everyone knew it was to keep Harry safe. "I… I promise. I will try to stay away from Bellatrix LeStrange as much as I can", by this point Harry was openly weeping.

No one had eaten much of their food. Everyone lost their appetite quite early on in the conversation. Now all there was an uncomfortable silence. Harry, looking at his lap, finally broke the oppressive quiet after a few minutes, that felt like a few weeks. "Neville?" The Longbottom teen looked up, "do you hate me?" then the silence was back. "Sometimes", Neville looked down at his plate. "Sometimes."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

The next few days passed in a fog for Harry. It was one thing to know his own parents had given their lives for him, but to learn that Neville was without parents as well, because of him, that was something else. No wonder Neville hated him. He should. It seemed that he was a curse on families. His family, Neville's family, maybe the Dursleys would have been good people if it weren't for him. He wondered how long it would be until the Grangers' were hit by the curse of Harry.

One of the downsides of having a girlfriend with cat ears is that if you are talking to your owl about stuff like that, and said girlfriend is in the next room, that conversation you thought was private is, in fact, not. The upside to it all turned out to be good. As Harry wondered if it would be better to leave Hermione and let her have a normal life, said girlfriend decided to slap some sense into him, literally. As he exited his room after his 'private' conversation with Hedwig, Hermione came and started walloping his arm, ranting at him;

"Harry James Potter, If you think that I am going to let you run off and leave because of a stupid idea like that one, you have got another thing coming!"

That had been two days ago now, the lecture from Hermione that had followed was only topped by the one he had gotten from Mrs Granger after she'd overheard Hermione sternly 'talking' to Harry. Mrs Granger thought that Harry was suffering from something called 'survivor's guilt', she had gone out of her way to tell Harry that such a thing was normal, that just because he felt that he was to blame didn't make it so. She had gotten him a book on overcoming such guilt, telling him that if he had any questions or just needed to talk then she was available any time.

Harry was now packing his new trunk with his school things and his books proved to be no problem. His summer Homework slipped in the covers of each subject's book. His clothes had presented the first problem. His new trunk wardrobe was split into drawers and hanging space that perfectly suited his needs. Except for one little problem; Harry didn't have any hangers. He felt like an idiot but he had to ask Hermione where he could get some. That had lead to a trip to a local pound shop with her, as she also needed some hair ties and clips as well as a few things for Crookshanks.

Now armed with hangers, Harry put all his new clothes in the trunk; the wardrobe only contained his quidditch robes and two Weasley jumpers from his old clothes. The rest of the old clothes were disposed of. He then had to go through the rest of the stuff in his old trunk, a lot of which was junk. A collection of mostly empty ink bottles were combined, giving Harry one and a half full ones. Random quills were inspected to see if they were worth keeping, he saved the luxury eagle-feather quill that Hermione had given him for Christmas, just hours before the Polyjuice Potion incident. Stuff like that. He spent an hour going over his old classwork and homework assignments, deciding what he would keep as revision notes and what would be burned (The Statute of Secrecy making it illegal to just bin magical notes in the muggle world).

Then onto the items Harry really cared about; the handsome, leather-covered photo album filled with the only images he had of his parents, he got lost looking at one of his favourites for 20 minutes. It was one where he was being held by his mum, they were both smiling at each other. The album was a present from Hagrid that he'd given him at the end of his first year; the flute that Hagrid had given him that same year; his Nimbus 2000 that his Head of House Professor McGonagall had gotten him after she had pushed him onto the Gryffindor quidditch team; the Servicing kit that Hermione had given him for his birthday; and lastly, his invisibility cloak. The cloak was probably the most important to him. It was the only thing he had, apart from the contents of his Gringotts vault, that had actually belonged to one of his parents. And the only thing he owned that was truly irreplaceable.

He was just about to close up his trunk ready for the express tomorrow when his eyes landed on the stack of newspapers. They weren't regular newspapers, for one the events depicted in their stories would have seemed fanciful and impossible to most people. Then there was the fact that unlike muggle newspapers the black and white photos in this paper moved.

After Harry and the Grangers had found out about LeStrange from the Longbottoms, Harry had been in too much of a state to think of anything. Hermione, however, had rushed back into Diagon Alley almost as soon as the lunch was finished. Harry hadn't found out until the next day when the stack of papers had been delivered by a trio of particularly grumpy screech owls, that she had made the trip to the Daily Prophet main office in Diagon Alley. She had ordered copies of backdated papers that had articles with anything to do with the breakout.

The newspapers had painted a grim picture. They described LeStrange and her crimes. They recounted all the crimes she had been sentenced for, ranging from muggle baiting (pranking/harassing muggles with magic) to mass murder and the torture of numerous people, both magic and muggle. They didn't particularly portray a picture of a sane or stable person. No, it was clear that the people writing the articles thought that LeStrange was a bloody lunatic, with an extra emphasis on bloody.

The story of her escape was also mentioned. It seems that LeStrange took advantage of a hole in the security that was created for specifically her. Someone, who was currently unknown but was suspected of being a Death Eater that was never caught, had Obliviated Director Amelia Bones before she could submit some required paperwork to rotate the guards at the wizard prison. Harry had been rather upset after hearing about Director Bones; he'd feared that she had ended up like Lockhart, only far less deserving.

As it turned out, Director Bones had only lost about a day of memories. After the escape of LeStrange the problem had been traced back to Bones' office and within a few days, the Director had been put straight onto 'administrative leave', which from what Harry could tell was a fancy way of saying suspended.

The most recent papers had talked about the discovery that Director Bones was the victim of Obliviation and that only a free Death Eater would have the motive to attack the Head of the DMLE to leave a hole in the security of Azkaban, just for Bellatrix LeStrange as well.

He decided that he was best taking the newspapers with him. He doubted that this would be the last he heard of Bellatrix LeStrange...

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

1st september

Hermione and Harry were relaxing. It was their last night in the muggle world and the two of them were spending this final night with Hermione's parents. It was surprisingly new for him to spend an evening relaxing, even with the Grangers'. Normally the two would find their evening full either going over homework, discussing LeStrange, the Dursleys or just going for a walk in the park, which Hermione had shown Harry a few days after he had awoken here, telling him that she liked to walk there often to clear her head and get some fresh air.

However, with the prospect of not seeing her parents again for almost four months, Hermione had gotten a little desperate to spend as much time with them as she possibly could. Harry, who would have given almost anything he had for just one night like that with his parents, understood and tried to leave the Grangers' to it, to let them have the night as a family. Hermione had a different idea as she had dragged him into the family room with her and her parents.

So the two of them were cuddled up on the Granger's sofa, Hermione had pulled Harry's arm around herself and wrapped her tail around him. Even Crookshanks had joined them, curling up on Hermione's lap as he again did his impersonation of an idling motorbike; Harry just sat there enjoying having Hermione so close, listening to the Granger's chat about anything and everything.

As the night went on things settled into a comfortable quiet as the four of them watched a bit of muggle TV. Harry began to realize he didn't feel out of place or unwanted, something that he could only remember feeling before at Hogwarts. It was why he always felt more at home at Hogwarts than anywhere else. As he sat there contemplating just how amazing it was to feel as though the people around him truly wanted him there, he was struck by a thought 'is this what it feels like to have a real family?'

Unwilling to pursue that line of thought further he pulled Hermione in a little closer and lost himself in the feeling of her cuddling in to him as they let the rest of the night drift by.

Author's notes

Ok i seriously love you guys between AO3 and FF dot NET i have over 100 followers and a load of reviews.

I need to give a shout out to Mattyscic my bata who has been a godsend dude you rock

Mattyscic has been bata since ch8 and has helped me with my buffer. I am currently working on chapter 14 but Mattyscic has started going through the first 7 chapters fixing my fuckup's so chapters 1-5 have been reuploaded. They are a much smoother read than they were. Matty is working on the rest of the chapters so like i just said Mattyscic you rock

Tyrannic_Puppy, ThunderClaw03 and Seros109 i love your comments


	12. Chapter 12 - Respite's End

**Chapter 12 - Respite's End **

2nd September

The morning of September 1st at the Grangers was much calmer after the one Harry had experienced the year before at the Weasley family home. Harry pinned this down to three factors. First was the fact that Hampstead in London was a lot closer to Kings Cross in London than Ottery St Catchpole in Devon. The second was that they only needed to organize and feed four people instead of eight. But third and most importantly Mr Granger had had them set their packed trunks by the door the night before. This meant that all Harry had to do to be ready to leave the next day was to put his toothbrush (a nice one that had been a gift from Mrs Granger after she saw the old cheap one he used) and his pyjamas into his trunk. Hermione, who had enough nightwear that she didn't need to take every set she owned, only had to pack her tooth and hairbrushes. Mrs Granger had gotten harry a hairbrush as well, but that was already packed as Mrs Granger had joined the club of people who had failed to tame his hair.

The train from Kings Cross was due to leave at eleven o'clock. They had left the house at ten to give them plenty of time to get to the station that was about four miles away. While it was only four miles, it was still in London traffic in the middle of the week, so no one expected the trip to be quick. However, Mrs Granger had gotten stuck behind a car accident. No one was hurt but the road they were on was completely blocked by the two cars, and their drivers, who instead of moving their cars to let others drive through, decided two have a shouting match in the middle of the street. And with the traffic behind them, there was no way to turn the car and take another route. This met that the trip that should have taken them about 20 minutes, leaving Harry and Hermione plenty of time to say goodbye to Mr and Mrs Granger and find a compartment, but now took 45 and left the teens rushed to catch the train on time.

Harry and Hermione practically jumped out of the car as Mrs Granger pulled up next to the station. Illegally using a bus stop just long enough for the teens to grab their trunks and pets from the back of the car and shout their goodbyes,

"Have a good term kitten. We'll see the two of you at Christmas." Mr Granger called as Mrs Granger pulled off before she could get a ticket. The two teens rushed through the station, both of them relieved that their new trunks had wheels so they didn't need to take the time to look for a trolley. Even if Hedwig and Crookshanks weren't too pleased with all the extra jostling by being carried led to, it was 10:50 by the time they reached the bearer to platform 9¾. The two of them stopped for a second, catching their breath as they appeared to lean on the barrier between platforms nine and ten. The next moment, they had fallen sideways through the solid brick column onto the platform for the Hogwarts Express, platform 9¾.

The bright scarlet steam engine was puffing smoke as it started to build the steam pressure it needed to start its journey north; most of the other students were already on the train as their parents said their farewells to the few students left on the platform. The couple, not having anyone on the platform to say goodbye to, quickly boarded the Express. The two set off down the train looking for an empty compartment but considering how late they were getting to the train they weren't all too hopeful.

The best they could find was a compartment with a single occupant. The two did a bit of a double-take at seeing this occupant. Every time they had ridden the Express ( although admittedly this would only be Harry's fourth trip compared to Hermione's seventh), the only adult they had ever seen was the witch who pushed the lunch trolley, and yet the occupant of this compartment was a middle-aged wizard who seemed to have, not long ago, started to go a little grey around the temples. He was sitting fast asleep next to the window. It was obvious that he was a wizard by the wizard robes he was wearing. But there was something about the man that bugged Harry and he didn't know why. He didn't feel worried about the man but something was niggling at the back of his mind.

"Who do you think this guy is?" Harry asked as Hermione lifted her blue trunk up into the luggage rack. Harry idly wondered just how the trunks were so light. Even if they weren't light there was no way they weighed as much as 3 wooden cupboards and all the stuff in them. Watching Hermione lift it by herself what really should have been too heavy for both of them combined. "Professor R.J Lupin, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher", she responded easily enough. Harry stood there surprised for a few moments before asking, "How do you know that?" Hermione was a little irritated by his tone. She knew that Harry was just surprised but it grated on her nerves a little nonetheless, "The Hogwarts Express only takes people to Hogwarts, and the only job vacancy is the DADA Professor position available so he must be the new professor."

Hermione responded, the slight edge to her voice telling Harry he had gotten something wrong. No really, knowing what he had done he quickly stowed his trunk in the rack and pulled Hermione towards himself as he hugged her from behind. "Ok, what did I do?" Hermione resisted a little, "It's nothing Harry. Don't worry about it", she leant back into him. It really was something tiny, but she enjoyed hugs a lot. She heard Harry huff behind her, "'Mione, it bothered you, whatever it was. If I don't know what it is, how can I keep from doing it again? Please tell me." Hermione sighed, he was right. But it just seemed silly, she knew he was being pedantic, "It really is silly Harry…", seeing the look from Harry, she reluctantly continued, "because I know you didn't mean it like this but, you didn't ask how I knew about Lupin. You demanded to know. You sounded like Ron when he was being a prat about homework." Hermione fell quiet, waiting for him to respond.

Harry thought over what she had said, "You're right, 'Mione, well...your always right aren't you?", he grinned down at her as he felt the heat of her blush radiating off of her in waves, "I didn't mean to, but I was surprised and sounded like a complete prat. I'm sorry." Hermione turned in his arms so that she was facing him. "Thanks Harry, as I said it was a silly little thing." She wrapped her arms around him returning the hug. "With you, 'Mione, nothing is really silly, though I really would like to know how you knew his name." Hermione smirked at his ignorance and just pointed at the man's luggage. Harry glanced over at it. There, in one of the corners, were peeling gold letters, but he couldn't make out the words they represented. "I guess his name is on his briefcase?" He asked as he and Hermione sat on the bench opposite the man. Harry still felt strange around the man, and it made him uneasy. He hadn't even seen the man before in his life!

Hermione looked at him, confused, "You can't read it?" Harry shrugged, "Nope, not from here." She frowned in thought for a few seconds. "If you can't read that from here, how on Earth are you such a good seeker. You really do well in Gryffindor's matches. It's bad luck you haven't won the cup yet, you only know McGonagall is getting frustrated." They both laughed at their Head of House's obsession with Quidditch. Harry's pride increase as Hermione Granger, the bookworm who is known to despise all things to do with Quidditch, praised his skills. He knew she only cared about the game when he played and she wasn't the type to blow smoke. "In a weird way, I think it helps. I think most people who are seekers spend their time looking for the snitch. I can't do that. I look for a glint of gold. I can see colours fine, it's only finer details I don't see very much, like that briefcase of the professor's, I can't make out the words but I can see the gold, that I guessed the letters are made up from."

Hermione relaxed as the express pulled out of the station and began snaking its way north. She pulled off her hairband, and after making harry turn around for a few moments freed her tail and gave it a stretch. "That's better", he looked at her, "are they uncomfortable? Now we are going back to school I can adjust them if you need." Hermione, who hadn't given it a second thought, looked up at him from the book she'd pulled from somewhere. Her heart clenched at the sheer concern and care in his eyes. He knew how tender a subject her feline features were. "They are fine Harry. They aren't uncomfortable, it's just...I'm very aware that I'm wearing them. It's like wearing a sock on your ear. It doesn't hurt or feel uncomfortable, but it feels weird all the same." She re-opened her book to her bookmark then froze as a thought hit her. She looked back at Harry again, "Harry, if you can't read that name, how do you manage in class?" Harry looked down at his lap, "I sit in the front of the class and hope I don't miss too much. Most of the stuff written on the blackboard is also in the textbooks and you help a little as well when you lend me notes to copy, so I usually get by."

Hermione thought about his response for a few moments, a few ideas buzzing around her head. She would need to do some research before getting any final ideas, but she'd help him with his learning if it's the last thing she'd do, she promised herself. Hermione returned to her book and started reading as Harry collapsed onto the seat beside her, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders, and reading her book over her. Harry reflected on the fact that this was his first trip to Hogwarts where he felt like he was leaving something behind. He had felt this way on the Express before, but it was always when he was leaving Hogwarts and returning to the Dursleys. He wondered if this was how most Hogwarts students felt, but then again, most of them were leaving parents that they had been with for years. Harry was leaving behind a couple of great people who had helped him a lot over the last few weeks, _but _it was still only a few weeks. He thought how it must feel for Hermione to leave behind such great parents, pulled her in even tighter.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Over the next hour, they passed the time, not doing much. They chatted a little about what they would do back at school, read a little, then chatted some more. They were just thinking of stretching their legs a little when their compartment door slid open. In the doorway stood the three people that neither Harry nor Hermione wanted anything to do with.

"Well if it isn't the precious Potter and his clever cat", in the usual lazy drawl that the pale, blond and smug Draco Malfoy normally used. The two gorillas either side of the teen laughed as if they found Draco's opening line incredibly funny. Although, given that this was Crabbe and Goyle, it was entirely possible that any joke more complicated than a knock-knock joke would fly right over their head.

"Hey Hermione, look! It's the Slytherins own malicious malcontent, here to moan and mouth off", Hermione couldn't help it. She tried not to, but she giggled, loudly. Not at Harry's words, but at the look on the unwelcome guests' face. Crabbe and Goyle just looked confused at the words he'd used, while Draco was furious, his face red with anger and embarrassment. Harry was feeling just a little smug, he knew Malfoy liked to use alliteration in his name calling; he'd done it since Harry's first year. Looking up a bunch of M words to throw back at him was laughably easy.

"Just you wait, _Potter_. We all know Bellatrix LeStrange is coming for you." Harry had already had his freak out over that little bit of news and was able to keep a straight face. "How is your auntie Bella, Draco? God the DMLE must have loved having an excuse to search your home again. Just how much did they watch you this summer? Did you and daddy not get to play your Death Eater games this summer?" Harry made the last sentence as mocking as he could. He was goading Malfoy. Draco was always trying to get Harry in trouble but if he started now with a teacher so close it would almost be worth it. He almost grinned as Draco drew his wand and pointed at Harry.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you", Hermione spoke up. Harry had a sinking feeling in his stomach, he just knew he was due a lecture about not getting himself killed, and as he thought about it, he also knew she would be right.

"Don't tell me what to do, Mogblood*." It took all of Harry's self control not to stand-up and break Malfoy's nose for that last comment.

"Ok...If you _want _to start a fight in front of a teacher go right ahead,'' she smirked back at Malfoy.

"Who's that?" Malfoy then noticed the other person in the compartment with them, taking an automatic step backwards as he spotted Lupin.

"The new DADA teacher, obviously," said Harry,

"Let's get out of here, if these brave Gryffindors want to hide behind a Professor's robes let's leave them to it." With that, the three Slytherins left. Harry got up and slid the door closed. Before he could take his seat again Hermione started up at him.

"What was that, Harry!? Why would you provoke him like that, there was no need of it." He guessed Hermione wasn't very happy with his little stunt.

"I'm sorry 'Mione. It seemed like a good idea at the time; Malfoy hexing me in front of a teacher and then he gets a week of detention and maybe expelled, which would keep him away from us for a while", Harry tried to explain what he was thinking to her, but she was having none of it;

"So let me see...if I understand your plan, instead of putting up with his comments for a week, you thought it was a good idea to get yourself hurt and then have to listen to him during classes bragging about hexing you? Sounds like a _great _plan Harry", even though she wasn't shouting he could see she was more than a little mad. Harry didn't know if Hermione noticed, but her ears and tail responded to her emotions the same as they would on a cat. Right now her tail was very straight, its hair standing on end, whereas her ears were turned back and were lying almost flat against her head.

"_But,_ he would have been focused on me, not you. I can't stand the way he talks to you. It's really hard not to go and wipe that smug smirk off his face." Hermione softened slightly at hearing his reasoning, but nowhere near enough.

"That's not a good enough reason to let yourself get hurt Harry. For one you don't know what he would have hit you with, it could have had real long term damage. Second, think about how you felt when I was hurt by the Basilisk", she waited a few moments for Harry's mind to fill in her question. It felt like someone had stuck a fork in his insides and twirled them around. Just as the pain of that showed on his face Hermione continued, "because that's how I feel when I see you get hurt. Every time I see you get hurt. I can deal with Malfoy's mouth a lot better than seeing you hurt. So don't try something like that again. Ever."

Harry had to admit Hermione had a point. In the moment he hadn't considered it from her perspective and he owed it to her more than anyone to do better. His musings were interrupted by the arrival of the lunch trolley,

"Anything from the trolly dears?" the old, frail witch asked them.

"Um...Professor, do you want to get anything from the lunch trolley?" Hermione asked the sleeping man, who, along with somewhat shabby robes, looked like he could use a few good meals.

Her question woke the Professor and he groggily opened his eyes. As he got his bearings, Harry selected a few things from the trolley for himself and Hermione. If he asked her he knew that she would refuse, just like her parents would want, but he knew that she secretly loved sugar quills so he got her a few. He picked himself some chocolate frogs, grabbed a couple of bottles of pumpkin juice and then a pack of pumpkin pasties that would make a good dessert to go with the lemon chicken salads that Mr Granger had given them for their lunch.

By this time the Professor was awake and eyeing the trolley, "Good afternoon Marine. Got any pumpkin pasties left?" he conversed with the Trolley Witch. Harry and Hermione both felt a little guilty that they never bothered to ask or learn the name of the witch. "Sorry Remus, but this is the last compartment today and I just sold my last pack." Harry looked down at the pack of six sweet pastries in his hand and quickly came to a decision, "there's too much here for just me and Hermione. We have a packed lunch to eat as well so we don't mind sharing professor."

The still sleepy professor looked at him for a few moments before nodding and smiling warmly at him, "Thank you Harry", before turning back to the Trolley witch, asking, "Can I just get a large tea then please?" The witch pulled a steaming mug of tea from one of the hidden shelves and handed it to Professor Lupin, in exchange for a couple of sickles.

Harry was a bit put out by how friendly this stranger was. It was more than a little forward for him to call him Harry before they'd even introduced themselves. Even if most people in the wizarding world knew him by sight. He had a lot of people recognise him over the years, some before he knew he was a wizard himself, one had gone to such lengths as to bow to him in a supermarket. But they had all called him by his full name or Mr Potter until he gave them 'permission' to call him Harry. And there was still something about the man that bugged him and he couldn't figure out why.

Harry pulled out his and Hermione's lunches from his trunk before he sat back down. He had placed his trunk in the well of the compartment so that the three of them could use it as a table. Before Harry could put anything on it, the professor flicked his wand and conjured a table cloth to drape over it, "No point staining the trunk if you can help it", he supplied at the questioning look from Hermione.

"So thanks for waking me up, I missed breakfast this morning. I am Professor Lupin. I will be your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. It's a pleasure to meet you." Harry nodded to the professor, his hands still full of his lunch. "Harry Potter, nice to meet you."

Hermione, whose hands were empty, shook Lupin's hand. "Hermione Granger, also nice to meet you. Sorry, we took over your compartment while you were asleep, we were a bit late this morning and everywhere else was full."

"Don't worry about it", he pulled a small package wrapped in brown paper out of his pocket and set it down next to the tea. Lupin unwrapped his package revealing a few ham and cheese sandwiches. Harry shared out the stuff for him and Hermione as well, and soon the three of them were eating. Well, four if you count the few bits of chicken Crookshanks had persuaded Hermione to part with.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

The sky was getting dark as the train made its way closer to Hogsmeade. Harry and Hermione were already changed into their school robes after Hermione had kicked him and the professor out of the compartment for a few minutes while she changed, then returning the favour for Harry. Lupin, who didn't need to change, waited outside patiently first with Harry, then Hermione. Now they were just waiting to get up to the castle.

Harry was a little impatient as he was thirsty. He had a cup of tea that morning and a bottle of pumpkin juice with lunch, but now he was regretting not having packed a few bottles of water. With the light inside of the train and the dark outside creating a mirror effect on the window, no one noticed that the train had driven right into a bank of fog. Harry was focused on asking Hermione to remind him to pack a few water bottles next time he took the Express, and he didn't notice the sudden chill that seeped into the cabin as the train continued through the fog.

Suddenly the lights on the train all went out and the brakes started screeching as the metal plates rubbed together, slowing the train right down. "It's too early to be at Hogsmeade yet, right?" Hermione asked as she checked her watch. "And why did all the lights go out? Did we break down?" The chill in the air then turned cold and oppressive, depressing even, and screams could be heard from further down within other carriages. Harry pulled out his wand and was half out of the door before Professor Lupin grabbed the back of his robes, pulling him back into the compartment.

"No! You two will stay here. Don't leave this compartment! I will go and see what's going on", with that the professor left, leaving the two teenagers by themselves in the carriages. Harry and Hermione were a little surprised by this. First, it seemed that they might possibly have a good DADA professor this year. Or at least one who put the students' safety first. Second, it just felt _weird _that there was a crisis of some type and Harry wasn't the one fixing it.

Harry got back to his feet from the bench the professor had pushed him onto and straightened his robes; he was about to go and follow when Hermione blocked the door, "Harry, _no_. I know normally it's left to you to fix things, but it's the professor's responsibility now, not yours. If we have a good teacher for a change we should let him deal with it." He hesitated, he knew she was right but every instinct he had was telling him to act.

Before he could make up his mind the door to the compartment slid open and Harry saw the dim outline of two people as they stumbled in, shutting the door behind them. Harry pointed his wand at the two and demanded, "Who's there!?" The voice that came back was comfortingly familiar, "Relax Harry, it's just me and Ginny" It was Neville's voice and Harry instantly felt guilty over pointing his wand at them, "Sorry guys, i was just on edge with all the screams and everything. Come on and sit down." He helped direct them to a clear spot on the bench which was not occupied by Crookshanks or leftover sweets from lunch.

"Do either of you know what's going on? Why were you out there?" Hermione questioned them curiously as she retook her seat. She grabbed one of the pumpkin juice bottles from lunch and cast her blue bottled flames spell in it. The flames weren't very bright but they did fill the cabin with a cold glow that was enough to let them see a little. Harry then floated the bottle in the centre of the compartment in a pale imitation of the floating candles of the Hogwarts great hall.

"Not a clue as to what is happening,'' Ginny answered, "We just bumped into each other coming out of the loo's", Neville nodded at Ginny's explanation and then continued where she left off, "it was already dark when we bumped into each other. This is the first compartment we came to. We were hoping you knew what's up."

While this conversation was happening the temperature dropped even more, despite the heat being given off by the bottle of fire. The breath of the occupants started to mist as it left their mouths. And the condensation on the windows started to freeze. There were sounds of movement outside the compartment. Harry could hear more screaming.

-Depression trigger warning-

The door rattled a little before it slid open, revealing the wall of ice-cold fog that had gathered outside, along with a tall shadow. It was all they could see of whatever it was hiding in the mist. There was a sound as if whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it was trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings. Then the cold seemed to be within them, chilling them right down to their magical cores.

It felt like there was no hope.

His chest felt empty, like someone had come along and dug out the space where his heart was, like some paradoy of a demented surgeon with nothing but a blunt spoon, and took out everything except the part of him that knew he was worthless and a danger to everyone around him. The part that knows Hermione is going to get hurt when LeStrange or Voldemort or one of his other followers finally caught up to him. And there was the screaming. He really should try and help the woman who was screaming, but what could he do?

In the end, he was just a worthless freak. a burden to people. nothing he could do would help anyone.

The figure glided out of the freezing fog. It was tall, over seven feet tall. It wore thick black robes that concealed everything about its nature. It drew in another breath and Harry was instantly reminded of the worst nights he sat alone in his cupboard. He had often felt the same then, this hollow, raw feeling telling him that it just didn't matter if he tried or not, that it wasn't going to work anyway. The screaming had gotten worse, louder and she just screamed the words over and over; "No! Please, no!", over and over again. Harry just knew something terrible was about to happen to her. Not that he could do anything to help. Maybe he would join her soon enough.

-trigger warning end-

Suddenly there was a light. It was blindingly bright in the dark train compartment, yet Harry couldn't look away from it. The light filled the space, it even seemed to fill the void in his chest. The light focused on the figure, burning it and hurting. It quickly fled the compartment and then the train.

As Harry's eyes started to adjust, he saw the light and turned his head away. The light was still too bright for him to see what he was looking at, but he could now make out the definite shape of the thing, the man that held up the light. There, stood with his wand held high, was Professor Lupin. The strange light that had driven away the robed figure now showed Lupin's face in high contrast, every line on his face shown as clear as day, making him easy to read. Professor Lupin was angry. Not the, 'you just bumped into me' annoyed, not even 'you just insulted my mother' angry, no, Lupin looked as feral as a wild beast protecting its young. He was most definitely angry, and Harry only hoped his anger was not directed at them, for some reason. An animalistic fury that said he would do anything to protect his students if he thought it necessary, and may Merlin help anything that got in his way.

For the first time that day Harry didn't care that there was something about the man that bugged him. He was just glad the man was there.

Author's notes

Mogblood* a mog is another term for moggie.

Moggie - a cat, typically one that does not have a pedigree or is otherwise unremarkable.

How is everyone enjoying the fic so far? We finally got back to Hogwarts yay! So stuff can finally start to happen so I'm looking forward to that. Please consider leaving a review tell me what you like and what you dislike, such reviews are a big help to me in improving my writing.

I will say now i may be going to a once a week update schedule for a bit. It won't happen yet or even maybe at all. The problem is the buffer i have of chapters is slowly going down. My creative side just can't keep pace at the moment. If i do switch to a once a week update do you guys have a preference what day I post?

One again Mattyscic you are amazing. /u/12284150/Mattyscic to see his profile on fanfiction there is a copy past link in my profile. Mattyscic has his own fic that I recommend you check out.

Oh and I'll say now what's bugging harry about lupin is not some type of 6th sense. Harry can't tell he is a werewolf nor is lupin possessed.


	13. Chapter 13 - Eat Drink and be Merry

Ok, a few people have been asking "where is Sirius" well he is in Azkaban. Ok question answers

Oh you want more [sigh] ok

Well because Amelia was obliterated she didn't enter the draw that the Weasleys won in cannon. This meant someone else won so no trip to Egypt. Without the pitcher in the paper Sirius never gets the motivation to break out.

Sirus will be in this fic just not yet.

**Chapter 13 **

**Thursday, 2nd September**

After all the excitement, the crowd of students that got off the Express was rather more subdued than normal. The prefects were helping the unsorted first years, even if most of the prefects looked like they wanted help themselves. The normal jovial mood just wasn't there.

"First years! First years over here!" the voice of Hagrid called over the platform, making Harry feel marginally better; if Hagrid was here for the first years just like always, things could start getting back to normal. He called out to the large man and waved "All righ', 'arry, 'ermione. 'Ow was yeh trip?" The two made their way over to Hagrid. Even now after two years, Harry only came up to just under Hagrid's chest. He saw a few of the first years eyeing the groundskeeper, terrified to get closer, so he bit down his reaction to people getting too close and gave Hagrid a side hug. This being out of character from him prompted Hagrid to ask.

"Yeh ok 'arry?" Harry hesitated before answering. Lupin had explained that the creature that had entered the compartment was a dementor, one of the guards of Azkaban. Hagrid had been sent to Azkaban for a few months last year and didn't like to talk about it. But Hagrid would hear about what happened on the train soon anyway, he also needed to watch the first years who were still on edge. But the clincher was he knew Hagrid would rather hear it from him. So he told him of the events that transpired on the train.

A dark look passed over his friend's face. "Dementors on the train, god 'arry! So how about you harry?" He asked, a little loudly so that the first years who were close, but still keeping their distance, could hear, "I needed a hug but I'll be fine." Hagrid, who had now seen the first years watching nodded. "Well I'll see you two up a' the school after I show the first years the way."

Hermione added "I still remember my first time seeing Hogwarts when you took me. It was breathtaking, and the moon was full yesterday, it's a perfect night for it. See you later Hagrid." With that the two joined onto the group of students who were queuing up for one of the horseless carriages to take them up to the school.

Talking with hagrid had put the two at the back of the queue and Harry and Hermione ended up sharing the last coach with an older Slytherin that they had seen around the castle but had never learnt the name of. He was also one of the only Slytherins that gave Harry grief on the run-up to the Gryffindor vs Slytherin quidditch match, which Harry had to admit was part of the game.

Tonight it seemed all three of them were in agreement, they all just wanted to get up to the castle, and after a few unavailable pleasants they all sat in silence on the way up to. Hermione was leaning against Harry, as they were each trying to use the other to ward off the dementors' lingering chill.

The carriage pulled up outside the main entrance about ten minutes later. The older Slytherin got out first. Harry next, he tried to offer Hermione a hand but she ignored it and just jumped down. The two of them tagged onto the stragglers who were still milling up the front steps and through the oversized oak doors.

Harry sighed as he stepped into the entrance hall, its flaming torches, grand marble staircase and glittering crystal hourglasses filled with rubies, sapphires, yellow diamonds and emeralds. Despite how he had come to love the Grangers, this was Harry's first home and Hermione's second. They were back, Harry and Hermione spent a few seconds basking in the feeling of being back when they were interrupted.

"Mr Potter! Miss Granger! I need to speak to you both!" Harry and Hermione turned around, surprised. Professor McGonagall, Transfiguration teacher, Head of Gryffindor house and deputy Headmistress, was standing at the bottom of the grand staircase with Ginny and Neville, calling over the heads of the crowd. She was a stern-looking witch who wore her hair in a tight bun. Harry fought his way through the groups of people cluttering around, slowly making his way, with Hermione just behind him, over to his professor with a feeling of foreboding; Professor McGonagall had a way of making him feel he must have done something wrong. Even if the presence of the four of them made it clear what this was about; "There's no need to look so worried. I just want a word in my office," she told them as she set off up the stairs.

They soon found themselves outside her office as the witch opened it and ushered the four of them in. Professor McGonagall's office was surprisingly small; most teachers' offices at Hogwarts were a little bigger. What it lacked in size however, it more than made up for in comfort and Scottish pride. The room's furniture was comfortable and inviting, almost all of it draped in tartan blankets. The professor had them all sit on the sofa near the warm inviting fire that lit up the room. Once they'd all settled, she began; "Mr...sorry, _Professor _Lupin sent word that you had an encounter with a particularly zealous dementor on the train. I would like to hear what happened." Her face showed what she thought of dementors attacking her Gryffindor lions, and she didn't like it one bit.

They all took turns explaining what they knew, a bit at a time; how the train had stopped and the lights had flickered out and ceased to work. How they were all in Harry and Hermione's compartment when the door had opened. How the dementor had _sucked _the hope from the room, how it had then come in with it's rasping breaths and chilling presence, pulling them all more and more into despair. Hermione explained how she found herself reliving the first hour after her potions accident when she was alone, thinking she was going to be expelled and cut off from her friends and family. Neville said he was stuck listening to someone insulting him on repeat. Harry revealed about the woman screaming "No, Please no!", but said he didn't know where it came from. Ginny suffered the worst of it, she said that her mind had taken her back to the Chamber again.

The red-haired girl soon found herself crying into Hermione's shoulder as Hermione wrapped her in one of her amazing hugs. Before they seperated there was a knock at the door, and without waiting for an invitation, Madam Pomfrey bustled in.

"What happened Minerva!?" she asked, seeing the four Gryffindor's on the professor's couch, all looking pale and sick. Hell, one was even crying her eyes out!

"It was a Dementor, Poppy." The medi-witch tuted at this, then started fussing over the students, feeling foreheads and casting diagnostic spells, all while muttering about the 'stupidity of setting Dementors around the school', and how she would bet her wand 'students will be collapsing soon enough'.

Minerva McGonagall sat there, watching with concern as the nurse checked them over once again. It was nasty business dealing with Dementors, and one had to be thoroughly checked if they came into contact with one. "Are they going to be ok, Poppy?"

Madam Pomfrey sat back, relieved that no permanent damage had been dealt to the poor children. She could only guess as to how horrifying it must be to face a Dementor. "They'll need chocolate but they will be fine."

"Madam Pomfrey? We already had some chocolate", Neville broke into the conversation.

"Yeah, Professor Lupin had us eat some on the train", Harry added. He had been quite shaken after the dementor had left, and Professor Lupin had grabbed the chocolate frogs Harry had bought from the lunch trolley and started telling everyone to eat one. At first, he thought that Lupin was just trying to calm them down, but Harry soon felt guilty about wanting to keep his sweets after the older wizard went on to explain that chocolate was one of the best remedies to Dementor exposure.

"Well, it looks like we finally have a Defence Professor who knows his remedies. Will wonders never cease? Normally I would keep you lot from the feast but I sent word to the kitchens and as long as the Dementors are around they will be serving a lot of chocolate desserts. You four are to have a double helping of chocolate something or another."

On hearing this, Ginny grinned and blurted out, "The best medicine ever!" Getting a stifled laugh from the teens ad even a ghost of a smile from Professor McGonagall.

"In that case, we better get down to the feast."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

"Oh! We missed the sorting." Hermione was disappointed as the six people entered the hall just as Professor Flitwick was levitating away the Sorting Hat and stool. Harry shrugged, "I haven't seen one since we were sorted." The four of them found space at the Gryffindor table near each other. Harry and Hermione were able to find a couple of spots next to each other between Lavender Brown and Dean Thomas. Ron and the twins were opposite them. Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey made their way up to the staff table.

"Hey Harry, Hermione, how was your summer?" Lavender turned to chat more, but before either of them could answer the Headmaster stood up, and a hush fell over the hall.

Professor Dumbledore seemed to vibrate with barely contained energy, an energy that seemed at odds with his advanced years, his eyes twinkling as he looked over the students. Harry felt a calm wash over him as he watched the Headmaster. He hadn't really felt calm since the Dementors had entered the train compartment. Dumbledore always had that air about him that made you feel as though everything was fine if he was there. He was reportedly the greatest wizard alive, there was no way the Dementors would dare enter the castle while he was watching over it.

"To our new students, I bid you welcome, and to our old hands welcome back." Dumbledore said, his voice easily carrying through the entire hall. "Welcome to another year of learning and magic here at Hogwarts. I have a few announcements to make after our feast, but as one of my announcements is vitally important I wish to address it before we get distracted by the delectable feast the kitchens have prepared for us today." He cleared his throat before continuing;

"As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently being guarded by a number of the Dementors from the prison Azkaban, they are here on the order of the Ministry of Magic." He paused; Dumbledore did not look happy about the Dementors guarding the school.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds, and while they are there, I must make it plain that nobody and no one is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises – or even Invisibility Cloaks," he added blandly, "It is not in the nature of a Dementor to understand such concepts as pleading, excuses or even mercy. I therefore beg each and every one of you to please give them no reason to take note of you. I look to the Prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the Dementors."

Percy, who was sitting a few seats along from his brothers, puffed out his chest with pride. Harry could see a shiny silver badge with the letter HB on it. It looked like Percy had gotten the new Head boy position this year.

"Now that that is done, all that's left to say for now is to tuck in."

With that the table all suddenly filled with food. There were roast meats and vegetables, platers of sausages, pork and lamb chops, steak, potatoes cooked as mash, roasted, boiled, baked and even chipped; there were mounds of yorkshire puddings and more. And to Harry's absolute relief, refilling jugs of pumpkin juice. He grabbed one of the jugs and filled his goblet, then emptied his goblet almost as quickly. The sweet juice soothed his dry throat and his thirst at the same time.

After refilling his goblet and returning the jug Harry looked over the food on offer to see what he fancied. He selected some roast beef for himself as he passed Hermione a quarter of roast chicken at her request. He then added chips, garlic mushrooms and onion rings to his plate. Hermione paired her chicken with some roast potatoes and other roast vegetables.

Lavender smiled over at them, "As I was saying beforehand, how has your guys' summer been?"

Harry had just taken a bite to eat, so Hermione answered first, "It was pretty good, Harry spent most of it visiting my place", that left Harry able to choose how much or how little he wanted to tell people.

"And your parents were ok with you having not only a boy, but your boyfriend, over most of the summer? God, mine would flip if I asked to do that." This was from a different person; Lilly Moon, another third year Gryffindor that shared with Hermione and Lavender in the dorms, and who was sitting across from Lavender.

This time Harry felded the response letting Hermione take a bite, "Yeah Hermione's parents are pretty amazing. They put up with me for a month, they have the patience of saints", Harry joked, then asked, "What about you guys?"

Lavender had gotten a new pet; a "beautiful baby bun-bun", who she christened 'binky'. Parvati, who was sitting on the other side of Lavender, had gone to Índia with her family to visit some distant relatives. The Weasleys had spent the summer goofing off, playing quidditch as normal, and miss Moon had spent the summer watching her little brother while her parents worked, as well as studying; her parents weren't happy with her grades.

Harry sympathised with her, recounting how Mrs Granger had made him feel bad about the effort he put in, so he had done all his summer homework twice. To Harry, it all sounded blissfully mundane in a way his life never was.

Soon all the food was replaced by dessert. True to Madam Pomfrey's word, there were a lot of chocolate options available. There was the usual chocolate gateau and chocolate éclairs, but there was also chocolate mousse, chocolate ice cream, chocolate coated fruits, even some of the doughnuts where chocolate filled. Those were alongside the regular desserts Hogwarts normally offered at the feasts.

Harry helped himself to a selection of chocolate-covered fruits before offering the bowl to Hermione, who eagerly added some to her plate. She also added some chocolate ice cream which she poured some warm caramel sauce over, while Harry opted for a chocolate-filled doughnut.

After everyone was stuffed and watered, the last morsel of food dissolved off the plates,.,,,,,,,,

leaving them sparkling clean. Dumbledore got to his feet again, "Now that we are no longer distracted by thoughts of food i have a few more announcements to make."

"First, after many years of teaching our care of Magical Creatures professor. Professor Kettleburn has decided that retirement sounds like a good idea and has left to enjoy it with his remaining limbs. So please welcome to the post our very own Rubeus Hagrid. Professor Hagrid has agreed to take on this job as well as his duties as keeper of the keys.

There was a polite applause from most of the students, but there were only a number from every house that were applauding enthusiastically. Ron muttered, "Should have known...who else would set that monster book?" He clapped as enthusiastically as Harry and Hermione. Soon the applause died off and Professor Dumbledore continued.

"We also once again find ourselves in the need of a new Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor, and Professor Remus Lupin has joined us." The enthusiastic applause was a smaller for Lupin, only the four from the dementor encounter were truly enthusiastic. "I also need to remind everyone that the forest at the edge of the grounds is strictly off limits to students, and that there is to be no magic in the corridors. Some of our older students would be advised to remember these rules. Now, you all have classes in the morning so off to bed with you all. First years, your house prefects will show you to your common rooms and dorms. Good night."

Everyone began making their way to the common rooms, Percy calling all the Gryffindors to him. However, Harry, Hermione and Ron headed to the staff table to speak to Hagrid."Congratulations Hagrid!" Hermione squealed with excitement as she threw her arms around him. Well, around a small part of him anyway. "Why didn't you tell us on the platform!?" Harry and Ron both echoed Hermione's congratulations but left off the hugging.

"Thanks, but I'm the who should be thankin' ya. If it weren't for you three clearing me name, I never would be allowed te teach." The large man started to tear up, "Can't believe it...great man, Dumbledore...came straight down to me hut after Professor Kettleburn said he'd had enough...it's what I always wanted..." Hagrid became overcome with happiness and started to use the table cloth as a handkerchief to dry his eyes. The noise Hagrid was making attracted the eye of Professor McGonagall, who sent the three off to bed. As they were going up to bed, Harry looked back, to see McGonagall sitting with Hagrid, her arm halfway around his shoulders and talking to him quietly.

Harry smiled, Hagrid deserved happiness like anyone else.

The three made their way up to the common room. That familiar ease that was once between them was gone, but Ron was being friendly enough that it gave Harry hope that he may just be able to earn his way back with Hermione. And it would be up to her; Ron had really hurt her last year.

Thanks to how well they knew the castle, despite leaving the hall after Percy and the first-years, the three ended up at the fat lady first. It was then that they realised that none of them had the new password. Ron tried last years' but it was in vain. They ended up only having to wait a few minutes before the prefect Weasley showed up with the newly sorted Gryffindors, and a few older students who had just stuck with the group going the same way.

"Yo bro, Wasa password?" Ron called to Percy, purposely at odds with his older brother's more dignified speech pattern.

Percy sighed, too tired to give his brother the lecture he obviously felt Ron deserved. "The password, my dear brother Ronald, is 'Fortuna Major!'" He said the password loud enough to open the portrait. The canvas swung back, revealing the entryway.

They all climbed through the entrance and made their way to the dormitories. Harry and Hermione said their goodnights, then, as the female prefects seemed to have forgotten, she showed the new first-year girls where they would be sleeping, before heading up to her own dorm.


	14. Chapter 14 - start as you mean to go on

**Friday, 3rd September**

The next morning Hermione woke early as she was too excited to try and go back to sleep. It was weird to have the first day of term on a Friday, but she was hoping to have one of her new classes today. Being awake before the other girls had an advantage; she was able to jump in the shower before the other girls started climbing over each other. She moved Crookshanks, who had settled between her legs in the night trapping her until he was shifted. Then grabbed her wash bag.

"Hey Crooks..." Hermione sounded conspiratorial as she spoke to her cat, "Why don't you go jump on Harry and wake him up while I take a shower?" He flicked his ear, which she took as an agreement and went to take care of her morning needs.

Twenty minutes later, she was back in her dorm room with her towels wrapped around her, keeping the dripping to a minimum. Lavender and Lily were just waking up Parvati, having joined Hermione in the showers halfway through. Hermione fumbled through her things for her trunk keys, and opened up her mini library. She pulled out one of her new books, 'A compendium of household charms'; there were a number of drying charms in the book and she was hoping to speed up her morning routine. The fur on her back and tail retained a lot of water and it could be a pain to dry.

She found the spell she was looking for and gave it a try. Nothing. But it was normal not to get a spell first time you try it, so she double checked the instructions and tried again. Her left leg was now perfectly dry. Not perfect, but better. The third time was the charm, [the author would like to apologize for this terrible pun] all the water still clinging to her from her shower vanished.

The results were mixed, she was dry now, but her hair and fur were frizzy. Well, frizzier than normal. She would have to look into that. She was halfway through getting dressed for the day when crookshanks came storming back into the dorm. He jumped up on his bed _because as far as he was concerned it was his, he just let Hermione borrow it._ He then curled up in a huff, ignoring everyone. Hermione thought something must have happened, Crooks seemed fine, she just needed to ask Harry what happened. Tights* and shoes on, and she was finished dressing, pocketing her wand.

Hermione would have to come back for her books after she got her timetable. She gave Crookshanks a quick scratch behind the ears and made her way down to the common room. Harry was waiting for her, his hair still a little damp from his own shower. The look on his face said that something had happened and that he wasn't looking forward to telling her. She guessed it had something to do with Crookshanks sulking, but she couldn't fathom what could have happened. Crookshanks had made a game of waking Harry over the last week once he'd settled into his new family.

Harry walked up to her, wrapping his arms around her smaller form and giving her a quick peck, as had become his habit after a week at her place. If Hermione was honest she expected him to stop with other Gryffindors watching. She hugged him back, happy he had gone with Gryffindor's 'boldly forward' mentality.

"Mione, it might be best if we start down to breakfast quickly." Hermione broke the hug, looking confused into his face, "What's wrong Harry?"

"I'll tell you on the way but please, come on." He started gently guiding her to the portrait. She could have stopped if she wanted, but she decided to trust Harry. They were soon out of the tower and walking along the sixth floor to the grand staircase before Harry stopped and started explaining.

"It's probably best if you keep Crooks out of the boy's dorm. He woke me up in his way," Hermione giggled; Crookshanks' way of waking Harry was to annoy him till he couldn't sleep any more. Funnily enough, it was his way of waking her up as well.

"This morning he was batting my nose with his tail", Harry added to his recounting, getting Hermione to smile more, "After he got me up he was waiting for me after my shower, demanding his reward for disturbing my rest. But then Scabbers saw him and bolted. Crookshanks did what any cat who sees a running rat does. He ran after scabbers."

Harry hesitated a few moments before continuing, "'Mione, before I say more, I want you to think; what you would do if a dog was chasing Crooks?" Hermione thought about it for a few seconds and then realised what Harry was implying. Even though she knew Crookshanks was fine she worried about what Ron had done. She was about to turn and go check on her cat when Harry continued;

"All Ron did was shoot some sparks at Crookshanks, nothing extreme. He gave Crooks a fright so I took him down to the common room after I finished dressing and calmed him down. Problem is, before I left Ron worked himself up. I'm hoping that if we are in the Great Hall for breakfast in front of the Professors, when he sees you he won't make a scene."

Hemione thought about it. As much as she wanted to curse Ron for casting on her familiar, she had to admit that Harry was right to ask what she would do to something attacking Crookshanks. With that perspective sparks were reasonable, even if she didn't feel that way. They continued on their journey down to the Great Hall, and Harry directed them to sit closer to the staff table, obviously hoping to prevent a confrontation between her and Ron.

Harry picked up her plate and began adding one of her favourite breakfasts since her potions mishap. Whole wheat toast, two poached eggs, and a kipper. "Need a good breakfast on the first day back," he smiled at her as he got himself an identical plate, before sitting next to her. They began eating and chatting about what lessons they may have that day.

"So...think we will have a new class today?" asked Harry. Hermione considered it for a second, "Probably. We will have more than one lesson for each subject so we should have some every day." Harry nodded his agreement. He was just about to continue when Ron entered the hall.

Ron was glaring directly at her. She suspected Harry's plan to avoid a fight till Ron had a chance to cool down was about to fall apart. Ron came storming over to the two of them, choose a spot on the opposite side of the table, placing his hands on the table to support himself. He then began aggressively leaning over the Gryffindor table, all the time glaring at Hermione, "You need to get rid of that monster of yours! It tried to _eat_ Scabbers."

Hermione wasn't sure how to answer. She wasn't getting rid of _her baby_ but she knew Ron was upset, "Ron, please calm down. I'm sorry. I'll keep Crookshanks out of the boys' dorms." She answered back politely and kindly. She even promised to keep her cat from going into his bedroom. _Surely _that was enough?

It wasn't enough; "Not good enough at all. _Get. it. Out._ Out of the castle! Or I swear _I _will."

That was too much for Hermione. Yes, she understood Ron was upset, but that was no excuse for threatening _her _familiar, "You bloody dare Ronald, and I will curse you into next year!" She was standing now as well. She wasn't going to let him threaten her Crookshanks like that.

"What's going on here!" It seemed that Harry's plan had been half successful. While sitting there hadn't stopped Ron from starting a full-blown argument over the table, it had lead to Professor McGonagall quickly coming to see what was happening.

"The damn monster tried to eat my pet rat!" A group of Slytherins, that included Malfoy, had walked in just in time to hear Ron's announcement. They all started laughing hysterically. Hermione went a little red but focused on what was important, stopping Ron from hurting Crookshanks.

"My _cat _is not a monster," Professor McGonagall relaxed a little; she seemed to have taken Ron's sentence the wrong way as well, she just had a better poker face, "I already apologized and said I would keep him out of the boys' dorm. There was no need for you to threaten him!"

"That cat is a menace. You need to send it home. Scabbers was at Hogwarts first."

"OK, THAT'S ENOUGH! Mr Weasley, let me remind you that cats are on the approved pet list at Hogwarts. Rats are not. Because, cats and owls both hunt rats. Bringing a rat to Hogwarts is the height of folly. Now enough of this nonsense, Miss Granger has given her word, she will do what she can. Now make yourself useful and hand these out." She handed Ron a stack of timetables and returned to the staff table.

Ron grumbled but started handing out the timetables. He handed over Harry's and Hermione's then walked away, still grumbling. Hermione looked at her timetable, "Not a great morning; double Potions first thing and History of Magic. But, Ancient Runes, double Transfiguration and double Charms after that", she then returned to her breakfast.

"Same for today", Harry said as he arranged the food on his plate to his liking, "But I seem to have two free periods; one first thing Tuesday morning and one thursday morning? I also have a note to see Professor McGonagall. Why didn't she talk to me just now?"

Hermione took an educated guess at the reason, "You only took two extra subjects. The free period is probably where the third would go. Professor McGonagall probably wants to talk to you about using your extra free time."

Harry nodded along with her explanation, "That makes sense... I wonder what my options are?"

"I'm not sure, but I would guess you could pick up another class or maybe study to retake your Latin exam. You really did terribly in it."

"Gah! No please, _anything _but more Latin. I like professor Babbling and I'm looking forward to Runes." He glanced at the staff table then went quiet, "you know, Latin was the only subject with a good teacher I failed. Binns just drones on and on, and Snape is...well, _Snape. _I bet if someone else did the marking I would have passed Potions."

"_Professor_ Binns and _Professor _Snape, Harry."

They finished up their breakfast. "Come on we need to get our books."

"Yay, five floors up to the common room, then two more to the dorms, just to come all the way back down."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry and Hermione arrived outside the potion dungeon with five minutes to spare. This left them alone with about half of the slytherins who had much less distances to travel to retrieve their books.

"Hey Mogblood! What's this about you trying to eat rats now?" Malfoy sneered in his regular mocking drawl. Normally, Hermione would have ignored it but this was an opportunity to set the record straight.

"My half-Kneazle tried to eat Ron's rat, not me."

"Yep, your Kneazle-half tried to eat a rat. Does a scabby rat make your mog mouth water?" The blond Slytherin burst out laughing, as did his contingent of supporters. Harry wasn't going to let him keep talking to his girlfriend like this.

"Hey Malfoy, why don't you shut your gob before I stuff a rat in it and shut you up", suddenly the laughter on Draco's face was gone. And it was replaced by a look of pure fury.

"Think your the big man, do you Potter? Sticking up for your pet?"

Hermione whispered in his ear, "Harry just leave it. He's not worth it."

Harry looked at her, "No he's not, but _you _are." Hermione leaned against him, her arms too full of her bag and potion ingredients to give him her normal hug. The other Gryffindors and Slytherins started to show up.

Draco scoffed at them, "you think that half-breed Mudblood is better than me?"

Harry pretended to think about it for a few seconds, "Let's see...on one hand we have a big mouth who runs to daddy everytime something doesn't go his way..." even a few of the Slytherins behind Draco smiled at that, "then on the other hand, I have an amazing witch who is smart, strong and also really cute. And you ask if I value her more than you. I value Ron's _rat _more than you." A few of the Gryffindors laughed until Snape opened the door to the classroom, killing all the laughter with his mere presence.

"Get in before I need to dock house points." All the students began filing into the room. Hermione pulled him to the middle station in the front row. Where he would be right under Snape's nose.

"Let's not sit right up front 'Mione", he tried to get her to move but Hermione refused to budge, "No Harry. With your eyes you need to be close to the board." he sighed; he knew she was right but that didn't mean he had to like it.

Snape stood at the front of the class. His voice barely above a whisper, carrying through the silent classroom easily, "Before we begin, pass your summer homework to the front. Any student who hasn't done it will be spending the weekend here mincing fresh flubber worms." There was a shuffle of papers as people passed their work forward. Tracey Davis passed Harry the papers from the stations behind him. He added his and Hermione's homework and took the stack to Snape's desk.

Snape waved his wand and a piece of chalk jumped to life and wrote a recipe on the blackboard. "We will be seeing if the summer destroyed what little brains you lot have. You'll be attempting to brew a shrinking solution." It was a nasty potion for their first lesson after the holidays, but that was just the type of thing Snape did.

Harry checked the ingredients; daisy roots, caterpillars, leech juice and Wormwood were in their potion kits, but they would need rat spleen, Shrivelfig and cowbane. These would be in the store cupboard. Harry set up his tools first and set his cauldron of water over a low heat before he went to get the extra ingredients from the student stores.

Thirty minutes later Harry was adding his sliced caterpillars infused with leech juice to his unfinished potion, when Snape called out, "Potter, Detention." It took Harry a few seconds for His brain to catch up to what Snape had said. Then he protested.

"What!? Why!? I am standing here doing my work. What could I possibly have done?"

Snape sneered at him, "If you recall, I said at the start of the lesson that anyone who didn't do their summer homework would be spending the weekend working for me. Surely your memory isn't that short Potter?"

"But I _did _do the homework. And I handed it in. I can see it on your desk, you just read it."

"I said you need to do your homework, I don't know who did it for you, though I have my suspicions." He glared at Hermione, "But, you didn't do this work, so detention."

"But I did it."

Hermione tried to help, "He really did profes-" Snape cut her off, "I do not recall asking you to speak Miss Granger", he sneered at her, before turning his unruly attention back to Harry, "So...Mr Potter, you will be spending the weekend milking flobberworms. _Without _your protective gloves."

"But I did the work."

"Ten points from Gryffindor for lying to a teacher."

"I'm not l-" there was a sound behind Harry, who turned back around to see that his cauldron was boiling over and flinging hot blobs of potion around. He was about to kill the flame when he heard Snape behind him; "Evanesco", and his potion was gone.

"Looks like a T for today's lesson as well. Most disappointing, I expect more from my owl students."

Harry was angry. He hadn't felt like this since his birthday and Aunt Marge. Harry wanted to throw his Cauldron at Snape; that potion was perfectly salvageable. A little lrish spring water and mint would have undone the effect of overheating and Snape knew that. But there was nothing Harry could do, so he just sat back at his station and cleared up his potion kit.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry and Hermione were just leaving Runes. Their first Runes lesson had been really interesting professor Babbling, had given them a lecture on the uses of Runes in the magical world. It was absolutely fascinating; Harry hadn't realised just how much Runes could be used for. They were now on their way to Transfiguration, which luckily was only one floor down. They were soon in the Transfiguration classroom waiting for other students who hasn't arrived yet, if Harry recalled correctly, Ron and some of the others had Divination up in one of the two towers, and it would take them a few more minutes to arrive.

Hermione once again sat Harry at the front of the class where his poor vision would be less of a problem. The rest of the students began to filter in; Ron, Neville, Lavender and Parvati had all opted for Divination. There was also the odd Ravenclaw were in divination with them class with them, although there had been more of the claws in runes with him and Hermione.

All the divination students were staring at Neville and Harry as they walked in. Neville kept his face down, looking dejected. Harry wondered what in the world happened in Divination. The students took their seats waiting for Professor McGonagall to begin her lesson. Her lecture on animagi was interesting enough to put Harry's concerns right out of his head, at least until Professor McGonagall demonstrated her own animagus transformation. Right before Harry's eyes, she transformed herself into a grey tabby cat with spectacle markings reminiscent of her glasses. While the students who had been in Runes all clapped at this, the students who had been in Divination did not. Professor McGonagall found this quite unusual.

"Ok, what's up with this class today? Not that it matters, but that is the first time my cat transfiguration has failed to get an applause from a whole class." It was Lavender who replied, "Professor, we just had our first Divination lesson and…"

"Ah...I understand. So which of my students is dying this year?" The whole class looked at her in surprise. Eventually Neville raised his hand and said, "M-me, Professor...well, both Harry and I." Harry Potter's blood turned cold. The Divination teacher had _predicted _his death, his and Neville's death. When Harry had been looking into what subjects to take this year, he had been considering Divination and had looked up the professor. She was apparently descended from a celebrated seer. While the subject as a whole might be useless to anyone without the sight, if anyone had the sight it was probably a descendant of Cassandra Trelawney. To hear that such a person had predicted his death made Harry felt as if his insides had suddenly taking a trip somewhere else.

Professor McGonagall started muttering quietly to herself, too quiet for any of the students to hear, and then said out loud, " Mr Potter, Mr Longbottom, I should inform you that Sybil Trelawney has predicted the death of one student every year since her first class here, over 10 years ago. Every single one of those students is still very much alive", she gave each Harry and Neville a look before continuing, "Divination is probably the most imprecise branch of magic that currently exists. While true prophecies do exist, they are rare. And, I am unaware of any that _Professor _Trelawney has made", Her voice took on a slightly stressed tone at the word 'Professor'.

"Mr Longbottom and Mr Potter, you both look perfectly healthy, so no getting out of your homework, and Mr Potter, no getting out of Quidditch practice either. I would really like to win the Quidditch cup this year." That relaxed Harry; if Professor McGonagall was joking about Quidditch, there was no way anything serious was going to happen. The rest of the class laughed, Professor McGonagall's love of quidditch was rather legendary and the only time she ever showed any favoritism to Gryffindor.

The lesson continued on as a lecture on human transfiguration, a devilishly difficult aspect of transfiguration that they were only studying the theory of this year. They were just packing up, getting ready to go to lunch, when Professor McGonagall spoke up, "Mr Potter, I would like to see you for a few minutes after the lesson please."

"Yes Professor." Harry assumed this was about the note that he had that morning on his timetable. The rest of the class packed up and made their way to lunch though Hermione was dawdling, intending to wait for Harry. Once everyone but Hermione had left, Professor McGonagall began to speak, "Mr Potter, I have two things to talk to you about. Firstly, I've had a number of complaints during morning break this morning about what happened in Professor Snape's class. Can you please tell me what happened in your own words?"

Harry hesitated for a few moments, before recounting his side of what happened, "I had no idea what was going on. I handed in my summer homework, just like I did in your lesson, but for some reason Professor Snape refused to believe that I had done my own work and gave me detention all weekend. And when I tried to say that it was my work he just started taking points from Gryffindor. Then while I tried to convince him it was my work my potion bubbled over, and even though it was saveable, Snape just vanished it and gave me a T."

"Its professor Snape, Mr Potter."

"Sorry professor."

"Do you have any idea why Professor Snape thought someone else did your homework?"

"Not a clue professor. And I worked really hard on it this year."

"You worked harder this summer?"

Hermione broke into the conversion, "Professor if I may?" At a nod from her Head of House she continued, "Professor, Harry spent this summer at my house. After his grades came my mother gave him a 'pep talk'. He was then motivated to redo all of his summer homework. He put a lot of effort into it."

Professor McGonagall considered that, then went to her desk and flipped through the stack of homework that had been handed in that lesson and extracted one of them, presumably Harry's. She began reading his homework and soon her eyes were growing wide, "This is a lot better than your normal work, Mr Potter. You barely scraped an 'Exceeds Expectations' in last years end of year exams. This here might just be worth an Outstanding. Harry, can you name me three of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration?"

Harry shrugged and answered easily enough, "food, transition metals and plants with magical properties."

Professor McGonagall nodded, "Excellent, Harry! I will have a word with Professor Snape and see if I can get him to rescind the detention and the points as you were obviously not lying."

Harry sighed a breath of relief; he really wasn't looking forward to spending two days milking flobberworms. The dried flobberworm mucus was extremely difficult to get out of your fingernails and clothes. "Thank you Professor."

"I also wanted to talk to you about the free time in your timetable. How do you intend to use it?"

"Honestly Professor, I don't know. What are my options? None of the other classes interest me that much. My math skills are OK, but not really good enough for Arithmancy. I don't have the sight, so Divination wouldn't do me any good. _And _I was raised in the muggle world; I know how to do all the muggle stuff. I kinda wish there was a wizards studies class."

"You're not the first student to ask for such a class, many of the muggleborn students throughout the years have felt such a class would be useful, unfortunately Professor Dumbledore is, for some reason, set against the idea. Your other options are to study to retake one exam of one of your dropped subjects, your Latin was particularly bad, or for you to submit to me an idea for a personal project."

Harry had never heard of this before, "A personal project? What sort of project would be allowed?"

"There is wide scope on such projects, one student who was attending Hogwarts used her project to invent the sneakoscope, for example. You have until the 1st of october to decide how you will use your time. That's exactly 4 weeks. Don't forget that I need to approve your project. Now off to lunch both of you, I need to talk to Severus."

The two began making their way to lunch, a comfortable silence between them. Hermione wondered just who had complained about Snape, while Harry was wondering what he could do as a personal study project. He really didn't want to be stuck retaking Latin. Snape's detention milking flobberworms seemed more appealing...or would, if he didn't have to deal with Snape during a detention like that.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Saturday, 4th September**

Harry was walking around the school looking for ideas; he had two projects in mind. Hermione was doing Arithmancy homework, which gave Harry a bit of time to think on his projects. The first one was for the free time in his schedule. The second one, the reason he took advantage of his alone time from Hermione's homework, was for her birthday. It was in fifteen days and was the first birthday she would have since they become a couple. He knew he didn't have to worry about a present as he had gotten her trunk for her, but he felt he should still get her something small to give her on the day.

That was easy enough; a few sugar quills, just to have something to give her. Any more than that and he was sure 'Mione would get angry at him 'wasting' his gold. The problem was he wanted to do something, but the only thing that came to mind was a party, which didn't feel right. Hermione wasn't the type to enjoy big parties. Harry was just taking a walk around the castle when he saw a red haired plait that was commonly worn by one of his classmates. He had been meaning to talk to her and jogged after her.

"Hey Susan! Wait up a sec!"

The redhead stopped and looked around, seeing Harry jogging up to her. He saw her hesitate for a second before stealing her nerves. Noticing she was a little nervous, Harry stopped about ten feet from her before he started talking;

"Hey Susan, you got a minute?" Harry tried to look as least intimidating as possible.

Susan still looked skittish, but she nodded, "Your finally gonna have a go at me for saying you attacked Justin last year?"

Harry then realised why Susan was nervous. Luckily, her fears were in vain, "Nope." She looked surprised, so Harry elaborated, "I mean, yeah, i'm still a little pissed that everyone thought I had problems with muggleborns, even after I started dating Hermione." Harry took a calming breath; if he kept talking about that, this would turn in to the conversation Susan was worried about and Harry wouldn't get the information he wanted, "Sorry. No, I wanted to talk about someone I think may be family of yours; Amelia Bones, director of DMLE?"

Susan's demeanor changed instantly. "Why won't you people leave her alone!? My aunt is not the latest bit of gossip for your entertainment!" Susan turned and started to storm off angrily.

"Susan, wait!" Harry went after her.

"Piss off Harry!"

He was a little angry now. All he wanted was to ask after Director Bones; she had helped him a lot over the summer and Harry was worried about her, and here Susan was, accusing him of gossiping about people. Something _she _had spent most of last year doing about _him_, "Yeah, do me a favour and remember that next time I'm the center of those rumours!" He called after her, causing her to flinch and stop walking away. But he wasn't done, "Oh, and I met your aunt over the summer. She is helping me with something. I only found out she was attacked a few days ago and wanted to know if she was Ok." Harry then turned and started walking away himself.

"Harry, wait!" susan called Harry considered just continuing to walk off for a second but stopped.

"I'm sorry...your right. That is how I treated you last year. Did you really meet aunty over the summer?" Harry turned back to her and nodded, "I...I did some accidental magic over the summer. It...revealed a few things. Director Bones was helping to sort stuff out. She was really good about everything. I hope she is going to be OK. The idea that someone could just attack your memories like that..." Harry shuddered at the thought.

Susan shuddered as well before replying, "Yeah, I'm not sure what I would do if I found someone had altered my memories. Aunty is a little shaken by everything but she is tough. She won't let this stop her. They don't think too much of her memory was altered, so that's a relief. They are planning to have her back at her job by Halloween."

The two chatted for a little longer as they walked down the corridor they were in, before going their separate ways.

**Author's Notes:**

Tights*- in the UK tights are what Americans refer to as "pantyhose". What Americans call "tights" Brits call "leggings".


	15. Chapter 15 - Meanwhile

Hey guys hope everyone is enjoying the fic so far a few of the messages in my reviews need replying to so I'm gonna do that first.

R) To be honest I was disappointed by Harry's silence while Ron was berating Hermione. Is he such a wimp that he cannot stand for his own bloody girlfriend, when the offender is Ronald Weasley?

A) i see what you are saying but Ron is still harry's friend in this fic. Not a close one but still a friend. Ron also has a legitimate issue even if he is going about it completely wrong. I as the writer also wanted to show Hermione is more that, just Harry's arm candy. She is not a damsel in distress who always needs saving. She is capable of dealing with Ron herself. Maybe I didn't quite pull it off but it's what I was aiming for.

R) McGonagall is Snape's boss, there shouldn't be any "see if I can get him" about it. Snape was out of line, and any real school would see him reprimanded at least for such bullshit.

A) you are half right. Snape did have a reason to think Harry had cheated. His work was suddenly a lot better. So I don't think there is grounds for a reprimand. You are right that McGonagall can just override snape but its normally better if you are working with someone to try talking first. You also try not to badmouth teacher in front of their students, it can lead to unruly students.

R)Then what do Brits call stockings? *genuinely curious *

A)We call them Stockings. Stockings was a word in use before us pasty wight people "discovered" a "new word" that already had people living on it. As such the word Stocking is used in both places. If anyone is writing a story based in the uk and would like to go over some of the differences between the UK and the rest of the world feel free to hit me up.

In a few weeks, I will probably have to switch to a once a week update. I was a little ill this week, my pain meds for a childhood accident have side effects that were kicking my ass. So my buffer took a hit. That with the hot weather slowed down my writing.

Chapter 15 - Meanwhile

**Sunday 12th September **

Hedwig was really enjoying finally getting to stretch her wings on a good long flight. Last weekend, being so close to the start of term, Hermione hadn't needed to send a letter home, but this week there was one. Hedwig liked taking mail to the Grangers, they were always so happy to receive the mail and it was always very easy to charm a little bit of Bacon off Mrs Granger, if there was any for breakfast. And there normally was on a Sunday.

She was flying over Hampstead Heath, coming from the north. it wasn't the shortest route but she was sure the air currents made it faster this time. She could see the Grangers' household now. There was a kitchen window open waiting for her. She had grown accustomed to the Grangers' home over the summer, so she was able to fly straight in.

She found her perch waiting for her and the smell of Mrs Granger cooking bacon. She gave of a polite little hoot to tell Mrs Granger she was here.

"Good morning Hedwig, you brought Hermione's weekly letter?" Hedwig hooted while nodding her head.

"Thank you. I won't ask if you want some bacon, because I already know the answer." She added two more pieces of bacon to her pan as she spoke, then filled a bowl with water and set it where Hedwig could easily reach.

Hedwig nipped Mrs Granger's finger affectionately and held out Hermione's letter. Mrs Granger untied the letter. Hedwig always insisted on finishing her job before having food or water. She still had a job to do. Freed of her burden, Hedwig took a long drink. Mrs Granger set a bowl of cut bits of bacon next to the bowl of water, and soon the owl was feasting on her favourite 'invention' of humans.

Mrs Granger sat down at the dining room table with Hermione's unopened envelope in hand. Unfortunately, Dan wasn't home as he was due to work early, meaning she would be left to read it alone. Usually, they both sat together on the sofa, reading the magical antics their daughter got up to, and having a laugh or two at her expense. While they didn't necessarily understand the wizarding world, they could grasp what Hermione usually meant.

She looked at the immaculate writing littering the front of the yellow envelope. It was very different from Harry's. His was more of a..._scrawl_. She smiled as she remembered the note she'd gotten from Harry only yesterday…

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

_It was early in the morning, and Emma Granger was cleaning while Dan Granger sat at the table, eating breakfast. They were going to go to work soon, and since they decided to wake a little later than usual, they were a little rushed._

_As her husband spilt yet another round of crumbs onto the table, Emma flicked some cold water at his exposed neck and back;_

"_I'd thank you for not ruining my clean kitchen, which if I remember, we're both meant to be cleaning?" Dan looked up at her a little sheepishly, "Sorry love, I'm just a little tired." She scoffed at him, "what, with an extra 45 minutes of sleep and two cups of coffee!? You go upstairs right now and get ready mister, or there will be hell to pay!"_

_He grumbled as he meandered his way up to their room, grumbling about overbearing wives. "I heard that!" Emma yelled after him. His speed increased exponentially as the thought of making his wife angry fueled him with new-found wakefulness._

_Emma turned back to the last of the dishes, grumbling herself about 'lazy ass' husbands, when there was a sharp tap at the window. She looked up, and was confused to see Harry's owl bearing a letter on her leg. She opened the window for Hedwig, allowing the owl to settle a little before approaching it._

_Hermione never sent letters on a Saturday. What if something had happened?_

_She began panicking a little, but managed to calm herself enough to take the letter from Hedwig's leg, giving the owl some water from the bowl she kept for her. Hedwig looked at her expectantly, awaiting her bacon. "Sorry, Hedwig, but I've just finished breakfast, so there's nothing to give you." Hedwig hooted, before settling on the back of a chair. Her perch was still up in the guest room. _

_Emma sat down at the table, a sickening anticipation filling her stomach. She was nervous to read the letter, but was also immensely curious. She steeled herself as she ripped open the top of the envelope, taking out the single sheet of parchment. She then laughed in relief at the contents of the letter;_

_Dear Mr & Mrs Granger,_

_With Hermione's birthday coming up I was hoping I could ask you for a little help._

_I was wondering if you had any ideas how to celebrate her birthday in a way she would enjoy. The only thing I can think of is a party in the common room but I know Hermione isn't a big fan of them. _

_I also wondered if you wanted Hedwig to stop by on the 18th so you could send Hermione a card or something?_

_Hope your well,_

_Harry_

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Today's letter from Hermione was a lot longer;

_Dear mum and dad;_

_How was your week? Anything interesting happen? Sorry I didn't write last weekend but we were still home most of the week so there wasn't much to write about. Unlike now. _

_My week has been a bit of a roller coaster. It started on the train to Hogwarts; as you know, we were running a little late. This meant only one cabin was free, which also happened to have our new defence against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin, who is such an amazing teacher, more on that later. It was a fairly eventful trip, at first it was only Malfoy poking his head in our compartment to insult me and Harry, like he does every trip. He even came up with a new insult for me: "__**mogblood", **__someone really needs to teach the ferret some manners._

_However, the most fascinating part of the trip was when the guards of Azkaban (you know the wizard prison?) turned up to search the train for Bellatrix LeStrange. They're called Dementors, and my god they are creepy. Remind me never to break wizarding law; I definitely don't want to go to prison, especially if they're the prison guards. Not that I want to break the law to begin with._

_The Hogwarts feast was amazing this year, one of the desserts they had was some really nice chocolate ice cream and there was some warm caramel sauce and you know how much I like chocolate and caramel swirl ice cream. And Dad stop the grumbling I know you're doing, we won't have desserts that sugary again until Halloween._

_The first day of classes were also rather eventful. Our first lesson was potions with Professor Snape. He refused to believe Harry had actually done his homework when he handed it in. He accused me of doing it for him; as if I would ever! So Professor Snape took points from Harry and gave him a weekend detention and Harry was angry about that. You saw how much work he put into that essay._

_We also had our first Runes class that day. Professor Babbling gave us a great lecture on how Runes are used to anchor spells and magic to an object or location. It's what happened in Transfiguration that was interesting, apparently, someone had told Professor McGonagall about Harry's detention and after class, she asked Harry what happened._

_McGonagall, after checking Harry's transfiguration homework and seeing that he'd put more effort into it this time, reversed Professor Snape's detention and the points loss. Harry was quite happy about that, though it wasn't surprising; Snape's detention would have been milking Flobberworms. Flobberworm mucus is useful in potions, but milking the giant slug-like creatures is not pleasant._

_Professor McGonagall also informed Harry that as he has a free spot in his timetable he has to find something to fill it. I tried to push for him to retake his Latin exam but neither me nor professor McGonagall could convince him to do that, I guess Harry really doesn't like Latin. He has till the 1st of October to decide what he's going to do. I think he might be looking into doing some type of Runes project._

_Apparently, the headband he made me, Professor Babbling helped him do the Runes needed for it. I think Harry is interested in some type of applied Runes project in his free time, he keeps going for walks to think about it._

_Our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin, seems to be a really good teacher. In Our first lesson he taught us how to deal with a creature called a Boggart, which is a shape-changing creature that feeds on fear, or more precisely, the psychic energy produced by humans when they are afraid. A Boggart changes its form into whatever it thinks would scare you the most. The charm to fight them uses their own shape-shifting against them, it tricks them into a shape we find funny._

_It was a great lesson. Professor Lupin had Neville help him demonstrate. The Boggart turned into Professor Snape, but the charm changed the Boggart into Snape wearing Madam Longbottom's clothes, even her hat! You remember the one she was wearing in Diagon Alley when we went to get mine and Harry's school supplies? I'm not sure what to make of Neville's biggest fear being one of his teachers. Shouldn't your teacher be the people you feel you can ask for help if you need to?_

_I'm glad Professor Lupin didn't let Harry tackle the boggart. The Professor thought for Harry it would turn into Voldemort, you remember the man who killed Harry's parents? But I think it would most likely turn into his uncle, and I'm not sure Harry would cope too well with the whole school knowing about that._

_I'm loving Arithmancy. We are breaking down the mathematics of the magic behind spells and it's super interesting. But it's hard to describe...like trying to explain red to a blind person. If you can't feel magic it's not something I can explain._

_Care of Magical Creatures was an event. The old Professor retired and Hagrid is now teaching the class. He is a really good teacher, I was surprised how good he was at teaching us. His first lesson was on a creature called a Hippogriff, it's these half-horse, half-eagle things that look really amazing. Harry even got to fly on one. Hagrid was doing a really amazing job teaching, he really knows his Magical Creatures. He was telling us about how hippogriffs are extremely proud animals and how the one thing you should never do is insult one. Then Malfoy walks right up to the one Harry flew on and called it an "ugly brute"...well he ended up in the hospital wing with a gash in his arm. It would be a serious injury without magic. Of course Madam Pomfrey fixed him right up in minutes. But he is faking that it still hurts for sympathy. I know he is faking it, because if it still hurt the amount he said it did, Madam Pomfrey would be giving him potions for the pain._

_Harry thinks Malfoy is up to something. But then again, Harry always thinks Malfoy is up to something. Though, Harry has been right about that a few times, so I'm not sure what to think._

_I'm glad Harry and I didn't take Divination. Apparently the Professor is not very good. According to Professor McGonagall, she predicts the death of a student at the start of each year, and so far every single one is still alive. To make it worse, this year she picked two. Harry and Neville. With Bellatrix Lestrange running free, that's a horrible thing to do. Harry doesn't have to deal with it too much, but Neville took Divination and has to listen to the Professor say that stuff three days a week. I can see that it's upsetting him. I tried reminding him that Professor McGonagall said that not one person Trelawney predicted would die ever has, but I think he was already worried about LeStrange attacking him and this is just making things worse._

_Harry and I are doing great. I know it sounds weird given everything going on but it's great being back at Hogwarts. Harry always said arriving at Hogwarts is like "coming home" and it's not quite but I know what he means. Now I think about it he hasn't said it this year. I wonder why?_

_Hope everything is good at home._

_With Love,_

_Hermione_

Mrs Granger set the letter down after reading it twice. She considered Hermione's last question first and smiled; her daughter was brilliant but she could sometimes miss the obvious.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Mr Granger was currently in a little bakery, he had skipped breakfast this morning to have enough time to drive to Surrey for a meeting. When he arrived at the nine-story building s solid 35 minutes early, he was relieved to see this nice little bakery directly across the road. He ordered a corned beef pasty* and struck up a conversation with the baker;

"So, you know anything about the business across the road?"

"Oh, you mean Grunnings?" Mr Granger nodded as he fished around in his pocket for change, "A lot of them come in for lunch most days. Generally good people."

He handed the baker a stack of silver coins that covered the bill, "what about their CEO Mr Dursley? I have a meeting with him soon."

"You mean Vernon? He's in here most days too, one of my biggest customers. You'll understand that when you meet him. He's always bragging about the boarding school his kid goes to."

Mr Granger considered that for a moment he was talking about Harry, but soon realised that was foolish. Did Harry's cousin also go to boarding school? "He sends his boy to a boarding school?"

The baker handed him his breakfast, "Yep. Smeltings...if I remember the name right. He was complaining just last week about them putting up the tuition fee again." Mr Granger thanked the baker and began making his way over to the Grunnings facility, eating his pasty as he went and being careful to avoid getting the flaky pastry all over himself. He needed to put his best foot forward for now.

He checked his appearance, then walked through the door. The reception desk was staffed by a young woman who looked fresh out of school. "Good morning sir, how can I help you today?"

"Good morning miss..." he checked her nametag, "Davies...I have a 10 o'clock appointment with Mr Dursley."

Suddenly the receptionist's smile became rather forced, "yes sir, I will just call him up and tell him you have arrived. Can I please have your name?"

"Doctor Daniel Granger." If he wasn't looking for things to use against Dursley, he was doubtful he would have seen the slight hesitation in the receptionist's hands before she picked up the phone. Miss Davies was perfectly happy until she heard she had to phone her boss, Dursley. Mr Granger could hear him on the phone, degrading the poor girl for interrupting him. It was going to be hard keeping his temper today.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Mr Granger climbed back into his car and drove away from the industrial estate in the south side of Surrey. He drove for ten minutes before pulling over. There, he finally dropped his poker face. For a few minutes, he was nothing but rage, anger and tears. He seen it in every member of staff who he was introduced to; they were all wary of Dursley. It was clear by the end of their meeting that Dursley was the type of boss who ruled with fear, constantly yelling at people who get even the slightest thing wrong. The type that was hell to work for.

In contrast to that was how he treated Mr Granger when he met him. The man definitely knew how to be nice. All the fake niceties had made Dr Granger sick with anger, especially considering he knew what the man had done to Harry; it was obvious how the man treated anyone he saw as beneath him.

But the trip had some worth to it. The business was secure, but Dursley's position wasn't. There were small clues all over, if you knew where to look. Dursley didn't own the company like he claimed, though he owned a lot of the stock. But, the other shareholders were not happy with him. It was the only thing that fit everything he'd seen. He wished he could see more of their records, but all he saw were the few papers left on Dursley's desk while said person had popped to the loo.

Dr Granger restarted his car after he had regained his composure, starting on the journey home. He really wanted some time with his wife right now. He had just reached the outskirts of London when he started chuckling to himself. The baker was right; Dursley was definitely his _biggest_ customer.

**Author's notes:**

corned beef pasty*- [pronounced "pass te"] British "delicacy" canned corned beef mixed with mashed potatoes inside a sealed packet of puff pastry and baked until golden. Can be bland but cheap and easy to eat on the go. other fillings are available


	16. Chapter 16 - Happy Birthday Hermione

ok, guys, I've been warning about this for a while, unfortunately, we're going to have to go to weekly updates for a bit. real life is just getting the way and my buffer is gone, and I know real life is still gonna be getting in the way for a bit longer. My mother is getting married and there are suit fittings and a bunch of other things going on that it's just taking a bit more of my time than I thought it would. so here is chapter 16 and I'm already a good chunk of the way through writing chapter 17. Wile, it is possible that I can get it finished for Sunday but then I wouldn't have anything to post on Wednesday and I'm going to stick to the Wednesday updates probably for the next month. I'm still going to try and write at my two chapters a week speed hopefully by the end of that time we'll have enough of a buffer that we can go back to two chapters a week, at least for a good long while so when I do not post anything on Sunday the story isn't dead I'm not abounding in it I'm still writing hope you all enjoy the Chapter

Chapter 16 - Happy Birthday Hermione

**16th September**

Harry had just left the common room when he saw him.

"Hey Wood! Wait up!" Harry caught up to his Quidditch captain. Wood had sent word with the twins about the first Quidditch practice of the year and Harry needed to talk to him about it.

"Hey, Potter, what's up? Did the twins get to you about our practice this Sunday?"

"Yeah, that's what I need to talk to you about. I'm afraid I won't be able to make it Sunday. I already have plans." Harry hoped Wood would be OK with this, but he doubted it. He knew his captain could be a little obsessive about Quidditch.

"Or you could just change them, Potter. I want us ready this year."

"Can't reschedule this one, sorry." He really couldn't. Birthdays came on specific dates.

"You're normally better than this Harry...what is important enough to miss our first practice of the year? You know this is my last year my last chance to win the Cup. This is my last year at Hogwarts."

"Sorry Oliver, but it's Hermione's birthday. I want to win the cup as well, but Hermione deserves this from me."

Oliver smiled at Harry, nodding understandingly, "You better be at the next scheduled practice with bells on, we can only practice once without our seeker."

Harry relaxed, smiling widely back at him, " Thanks Wood."

Harry had been getting everything ready for Hermione for days. It wasn't easy; he had to keep ditching his girlfriend to do something for his her. He told her he was still pondering his personal project. He _was _doing that as well, just not as much as sorting out Hermione's big day.

There were a few elements he needed to bring together before Sunday.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Sunday 19th September - Hermione's birthday**

Harry woke up early due to the vibrating pillow under his head. If you did the spell right it happened at about six in the morning. He had to get up quickly if he wanted to make sure everything was ready for Hermione. He threw on some of his nicer clothes that they had picked up in London in the holidays. He looked through his trunk and found Hermione's present. It was already wrapped and ready to go. He also grabbed today's entertainment and made his way down to the common room.

Angelina and Alicia were already in the common room waiting in their quidditch robes with brooms swung over their shoulders. Angelina spotted Harry first as he entered the room, "Hey, Harry's up. Wait...what are you wearing? You look good, but you can't practice Quidditch dressed like that."

_Great_, Harry thought, _Wood hadn't told them._

"Sorry guys I'm not flying today", both of them looked surprised; missing one of Wood's practice sessions was pretty much non-optional, "I already had plans before Wood called the practice," Harry explained, trying not to go into too much detail. He was sure his teammates would tease him if they knew and he didn't have time if he wanted everything to be set up before Hermione came down from the dorms.

It was then that Alicia spotted the wrapped present and bag Harry was carrying. She grinned evilly as she nudged Angelina, "Angelina, look at what Harry is carrying. I think our little seeker is going on a _date_", she put extra emphasis on the word date.

Angelina quickly caught on and started overreacting in a teasing manner, "oh woe is us. Our chances at the Cup dashed. All so our seeker can snog his girlfriend."

Harry blushed deeply, "Oh, leave off, will you!? It's only once. It's Hermione's birthday and I need to set everything up and be back here before she comes down to the common room."

With that he made his retreat out of the portrait of the fat lady, leaving behind two gossiping and giggly girls.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione awoke late. There was something special about today, but her sleep-fogged brain couldn't remember what. After feeling her wake up, Crookshanks came and started rubbing his face into hers. Hermione idly scratched the cat's ears, mentally thanking her parents for the early birthday gift. Then she remembered; it was the 19th of September.

Her 14th birthday.

She cuddled Crookshanks for half an hour before her stomach told her that breakfast was a good plan. It was Sunday and Hermione had no plans, so she grabbed some comfortable clothes for the day.

As she got dressed, she wondered if she would see Harry for lunch; she knew he had quidditch practice today, she had heard Katy and the Weasley twins talking about it last night in the common room. She dressed, and with a quick pass of a brush through her hair, she began making her way down the spiral steps that connected the girl's dormitories together.

Hermione was surprised to see Harry watching the entrance to the dorms as she walked into the comen room. He got up out of his chair and came over to her. She noticed he was wearing some of his best clothes. The green t-shirt really set off his eyes, whereas the blazer that he wore over it made him look older. He looked good. She just wanted to curl up and cuddle into him. Maybe even a little more…

Before that thought could go anywhere Harry reached her;

"Good morning Hermione. Happy birthday." He kissed her on the cheek.

"Morning, Harry, thank you. I thought you had Quidditch practice this morning?" She was curious about that,

"Told Wood I had other plans. He understood."

Hermione doubted that Wood would be so understanding. "Really?"

"Well, no. He went on about how this was his last chance at the cup, but he gave in this once. Now enough about Wood, would you please go get Crooks, then allow me to escort the two of you to breakfast?"

"You want Crookshanks to...come with us?" That got her logical side thinking, why would Harry want to take Crookshanks down to the great hall? The only pets that went there regularly where owls and Ron's rat, as far as she knew. "Ok, wait here."

She quickly rushed back upstairs and found Crookshanks spread out right in the middle of her bed. "Hey, Crooks. Harry seems to have something planned for us." She picked the cat up and cradled him in her arms. "Come on, let's go see what surprises he has waiting for us."

When she arrived back at the common room, Hermione giggled at Harry's antics. He tried to be gentlemanly and offered her his arm, but they were full of cat so she couldn't take it. "Just lead on Harry. You seem to be the one with a plan."

Harry regained his composure and nodded. He gestured to the portrait hole and said "Right this way." They walked out of the common room towards the grand staircase, but instead of leading her down, they went up. She followed him to the seventh floor. They were walking around the corridor with a strange tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, who tried to train trolls to dance in the ballet, only there was a door there that she had never seen before. Harry quickly opened it and gestured for her to go in first.

The room was amazing. It was decorated similar to the Gryffindor common room, only instead of red and gold with dark woods, it was periwinkle blue lilac accents and lighter woods. A large lit fireplace dominated one wall, perfect to ward off the chill of the Scottish September air. In front of the fire was a very comfortable looking sofa. Between Hermione and the back of the sofa was a table set up with what was probably breakfast.

Harry followed her in and shut the door behind himself. "Happy birthday Hermione", he smiled at her, awaiting her reaction.

Hermione put Crookshanks down. He promptly went and stretched out in front of the fire on a cushion that had appeared there suddenly. She then threw her arms around Harry and pulled him into a tight hug. She felt his arms wrap around her waist, the first time he'd ever done it without any hesitation. That made her smile as much as the feeling of his arms around her.

"So...what do you want to do first, have breakfast or open your presents?"

Hermione tensed up a little but still sighed. Of course, he had bought her more presents, even when she'd explicitly told him _not _to. He really needed to be more responsible with his gold. "Harry, you can't go around wasting your gold like that, you already bought me my trunk."

But he just stood there with his arms around her, his face adorning that smirk he had whenever he thought he was being clever, "You may want to see what I actually _got _you before you tell me off. Mine is the smaller one."

With that she grew curious, disentangling herself from Harry to go open his present to her. She ripped off the pale blue paper and looked at what he had gotten her. When Hermione saw what he'd gotten her, she smiled brightly at him.

"It just felt weird to not give you something today, and I know they are your favourite." Hermione could understand that as she looked over the box of deluxe sugar quills. Even a top of the line box like this wouldn't even come to one galleon, and she relaxed.

The other present was from her parents. It was along the same lines as Harry's, but where Harry got her a few things to cheat on her parents' sugar ban, they had sent a large selection of sugar-free sweets. There was also a letter from them, but the smell of food was quickly reminding her that she had gotten up in search of breakfast. After a little prompting to Harry, he lifted the big silver lid that Hermione was ninety percent sure was called a cloche, revealing what looked to be an amazing breakfast.

There were a lot of Hermione's favourites; kippers, poached eggs, a platter of her favourite fruits, but there were also items she had never seen at Hogwarts before, like croissants, pain du Chocolat, and orange juice. God, she missed orange juice when she was at Hogwarts. She'd never understood why witches and wizards preferred pumpkin juice. But how had Harry gotten fresh French pastries and orange juice?

The two of them had a pleasant breakfast discussing their school year so far, at least, the little there was of it. Harry shared that he was a little nervous about his upcoming Runes project. Professor Babbling had assigned Harry and herself to work with two Slytherins; Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis. Harry was worried as Slytherins had never caused him anything but trouble. Hermione was more circumspect about the whole thing. While it was true Harry and her had never heard a single nice word from any of the Slytherins, it was also true that most never said anything at all. That left people like Malfoy to represent the whole house.

After breakfast, Harry moved them over to the sofa in front of the fire. For a few moments, Hermione thought Harry's intention was to get somewhat..._physical_. What surprised her was just how little the idea bothered her. Harry's plan, however, was better, at least to her. The two of them cuddled up on the sofa and Harry pulled out a book he must have hidden by the sofa before he met her that morning.

Harry remembered how lucky he was to find out about this room;

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

_Harry went after the twins, pleading with them. He had been badgering them about this for days, "Look, guys, I know you know where the kitchens are. You get all the stuff for the Gryffindor's parties, and I need to find it."_

_Upon hearing this, Fred and George stopped in their tracks, looking at each other. They seemed to be having a silent conversation, one Harry wasn't privy to. After a short while, they both simultaneously turned back to Harry, their trademark mischievous grins on both their faces._

"_Yeh we know-" Fred began, only for George to continue,_

"_where they are."_

_Then it was back to Fred, "But why do you-" _

"_want to know where they are."_

"_Are you plotting a deed?" _

"_Maybe one of great mischief?"_

_The twin's 'twin speak' was easy to follow after two years, but Harry still felt like he was watching a tennis match from centre court. He wondered what he had to tell them in order to get them to give up the information. Unfortunately, the only thing he could come up with was the truth, and knowing Fred and George, there was no way they wouldn't give Harry a hard time. He resigned himself to their comments and gave them the answer they were looking for, "I'm looking to make a few arrangements for Hermione's birthday."_

_The twin' grins only grew bigger, "Big party in the common room?"_

"_That's our speciality."_

"_Let us take care of-"_

_Harry cut them off quickly, before they got any ideas, "No! No, this is for Hermione, not an excuse for all of Gryffindor to party. Hermione is not a fan of big parties. She deserves something nice for her, not to be an excuse for everyone else to have fun."_

_The twins looked slightly guilty for a second, but then it was gone. They began speaking to each other again, "My dear brother, I do believe that Harry has just told us not to throw a party for his girlfriend."_

"_You know brother, you seem to be right. This is not how this conversation normally goes."_

"_True, but consider the lovely lady in question."_

"_You seem to be having a thought. Do continue."_

"_Well...the beautiful witch in question can be rather...fierce, when angered."_

"_It seems that young Harry here likes the feisty type. But what is your point, brother of mine?"_

"_Well, brother dearest, it is most simple. If we throw a party that Harry's fierce temptress doesn't want, we get the privilege of being on the receiving end of her fury."_

"_I think I understand your thinking. And if Harry is wrong, he simply needs to apologize."_

"_Exactly. So, do we just give young Harry here the information he needs? Without demanding payment?"_

"_Well, he did save gin-gin last year. I would say we owe him a few for that one." The other twin nodded to that. At this point, Harry had given up trying to tell which one was Fred and which was George._

_The twins proceeded to tell him where the kitchens were. Apparently, they were directly underneath the Great Hall, you had to go down the Hufflepuff corrido until you found a painting of a bowl of fruit, where you just had to pick up the pay for it to open. He thanked them and went to have a look. Unfortunately, he was in the common room when he'd finally mangled the knowledge out of the twins. That meant it was a lot of stairs between him and the kitchens._

_But he soon found himself in the Hufflepuff corridor, and there was indeed a picture of a bowl of fruit. He had a quick look around to see if anyone was watching him; he didn't put it past the twins for this to be a prank. He wouldn't be surprised if what happened when someone tickled the pear was that the offender got pelted with rotten fruit. It was after all the sort of prank the twins would play._

_With immense relief, Harry saw that the painting swung open as soon as he tickled the particular piece of fruit. The centre of the kitchens was almost an exact replica of the Great Hall above; the four long House tables running the length of the room, with the staff table dominating the far side. Harry suspected that each of the tables were positioned directly beneath their counterparts above, so that the prepared food was ready to be transported at the start of each meal._

_What was different from the Great Hall was the outside of the room. The outer walls were filled with fireplaces, stoves, ovens and work counters. Manning all these workspaces were a rather large number of house-elves; washing dishes, stirring stews, baking bread, and the hundreds of other jobs it took to prepare the feast. Harry was looking around, just wondering who to talk to about arranging things for Hermione's birthday, when he suddenly felt collision around his middle._

"_Harry Potter has come to see Dobby! Dobby has been hoping to see Harry Potter and Harry Potter has come to him! How can we help the great Harry Potter sir?" Harry looked down and saw what appeared to be a stack of tea cosies pressed up against his chest. It took a moment for him to realise that the cosies were, in fact, being worn as hats and that the one wearing the hats was Dobby, the House Elf he had met last year. _

"_Dobby!? What are you doing here?"_

"_Dobby was needing work and Hoggywarts is always having work for us House Elves mister Harry Potter sir. Dobby likes working here."_

"_I thought you wanted to be free Dobby?"_

"_Dobby is as free as a House Elf can be thanks to the great Harry Potter!"_

_Harry's conversation with Dobby proceeded from there; Dobby was ecstatic to help Harry sort out a birthday celebration for Hermione. Harry had asked if Dobby could do any French food as Hermione had missed her trip there this summer. Dobby, it turned out, was very good at French cooking. The Malfoys', having descended from a family of French wizards, had a lot of French food in their family cookbooks. _

_The two of them sat there for a good twenty minutes going over the menu for Hermione's birthday. Dobby had suggested that he make Bouillabaisse for dinner. The French fish stew sounded perfect to Harry, exactly the sort of thing that Hermione would like. He wasn't sure he would like it but he was willing to try for Hermione's sake._

_He also told Dobby about the problem he was having finding a suitable location. Harry was hoping for a private day with Hermione, just the two of them. The problem was that most of the Castle were either completely unsuitable for what he had planned, or was being used for some other purpose. There were always the unused classrooms on the sixth floor, but they were highly likely to be disturbed in them, most students use them on and off when they needed one; it wasn't uncommon for those classrooms to be taken over by The Choir, Gobstones Club, or Chess Club, as well as random students just looking for a place to practice their spell work._

_Harry had expected the small elf to apologise and say that he didn't know anything that could help, instead, Dobby suddenly gained huge grin on his face, "I was knowing just the place Mr Harry Potter sir. It's a secret of the Castle, I don't think any of the students know about it. But we Elves is knowing. There be's a special room that only exists when the one seeking it has need of it, and the room is always as the seeker needs. If the Seeker is needing a sleep then the room is a bedroom if the Seeker is needing to warm up then the room is having a big lit fireplace._

_Dobby took Harry to see the 'Room of Requirement' as he called it. That lead to another trek up seven sets of stairs, back up to the Seventh floor. Dobby then gave him the instructions on how to summon a room. According to his elfish friend, all he needed to do was to walk up and down past the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy while thinking of the exact type of room he needed. Harry tried it out;_

'I need a place to celebrate Hermione's birthday'

'I need a place for me and Hermione to spend the day'

'I need a place Hermione would like'

_Mixed in with these clear thoughts were jumbled up images; Hermione's favourite colours, the places she preferred to sit in the Gryffindor common room, everything and anything he could think of about his girlfriend. Then suddenly where they had been only a wall before, there was now a rather plain looking door. Harry hesitated for a few seconds; 2 years in this Castle that taught him to be cautious: trick steps, vanishing cabinet doors that only work if you treated them just right. Dobby, however, didn't seem to worry about such things, he just threw open the door and ran inside._

"_Harry Potter sir needs to come in here and see this. Dobby is thinking it be perfect." _

_He followed the House Elf into the room and was taken aback by just how well this room fit into his plans. The reason was things he didn't think he would ever have thought of himself, such as a cat bed next to the large roaring fire. The art of the walls was not the standard Hogwarts fair of portraits, what is a collection of landscape's depicting idyllic countrysides that Harry suspected were of France. It was all perfect The room itself was decorated like a common room but in place of the usual house colours will Hermione's favourite colours periwinkle blue pale lilac. This room would suit his needs perfectly._

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry had just finished reading Hermione a collection of wizard fairy tales he'd found in the Hogwarts library. His plan for today seemed to be going well. He was trying to invoke the good side of when they had become a couple. Without all the scary just transformed into a part cat feelings that she had at the time.

He had chosen the book 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard', because it was a book he doubted Hermione had read yet. The stories themselves had reminded Harry of Aesop's fables, that he'd read in the muggle school library once when he was hiding from Dudley and his gang.

The sound of a single chime glass bell filled the room. Hermione looked around for the source but couldn't find any. She looked questioningly at Harry who smiled and answered with a question, "Would you care for a spot of lunch?"

The growl of Hermione's stomach answered for her, causing her to blush and him to grin. They moved back over to the table, abandoning the comfortable sofa. A frown appeared on Hermione's face as the food appeared in front of them, just like it did in the great hall.

Harry lifted the large cloche with a flourish, "Bon appetight."

Hermione giggled, "its 'bon appetit', not ' bon appetight'", then she saw what was under the cloche. "Oh, _Bouillabaisse! _How did you know it was one of my favourites Harry?" She asked as she dished herself a large helping from the serving bowl in the centre of the table.

Harry considered pretending he knew for a few seconds but instead told Hermione the truth, "I didn't know. But you missed going to Nice this year and Bouillabaisse has a lot of things you like in it. I just thought you would like it." It was Harry's turn to blush now as he admitted how much attention he paid to what his girlfriend liked to eat.

Hermione leaned over and gave Harry a kiss on the cheek, "It's _amazing _Harry, thank you." They ate without speaking for a few minutes. Hermione definitely seemed to enjoy the food, and Harry found the French fish stew to be rather good, even if he didn't enjoy it as much as Hermione.

"Harry, how is the food getting here? At first, I thought you brought breakfast here this morning and put it under stasis charms till you brought me here, but lunch just appeared here."

"Yep, same way it does in the great hall."

Hermione thought about that for a few moments, "But...where did it come from? The first of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration is food, so it had to come from somewhere."

"Yeah, same place as the food in the Great Hall. The Hogwarts kitchens."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I had arranged the French food. It's not standard Hogwarts food, after all." He went on, telling her about finding the kitchens and how he had found Dobby there working with the other elves. Hermione was frowning most of the time;

"But isn't that the same as what the Malfoys where doing? Isn't he still a slave?" She looked disgustedly at the food still on the table.

Harry hesitated for almost a minute before replying, "I-i don't know 'Mione. When he still...last year Dobby, he wasn't happy until I helped get him away from Mr Malfoy. But he was happy, really happy now."

"But Harry, if they've been slaves for their whole lives then they are conditioned to like act like that." She pushed her plate away.

"I'm not sure Hermione," she looked at him in shock, "I was talking with Dobby and apart from appearing happy, he said a few things that made me think there might be more to it. Like, he was '_needing work and Hoggywarts is always having work for us House Elves.'. _And he said he was _as free as a House Elf could be_. He made it sound like there was something about them that needed to work." He tried to explain what it seemed like to him.

Hermione stared at him, unconvinced, "Harry, after what your aunt and uncle did to you, how can you be Ok with this!?"

Harry tried to explain once again, "That's just it Hermione, like last year when he was forced to serve the Malfoys. That felt like me and those people. He didn't feel that way any more. If he had I would already be doing something." That seemed to make her think. Harry saw that she had left half her food, "'Mione, is something wrong with your lunch?"

She looked at her half-finished bowl of Bouillabaisse and fresh baked and still warm baguette, "It's perfect, but I can't eat food made by slaves Harry, i just can't."

Harry understood, "I wish more people were like you 'Mione. But this was made by Dobby, apparently, the Hogwarts elves don't know French food. Dobby _suggested _this lunch and he did it for his _friend_, not his...owner, _if_ he has one. He was excited to make it. I think he would prefer you to eat it."

She thought about it, _Harry wouldn't lie about Dobby's happiness_, "You swear Harry, you think Dobby is OK?"

He nodded, "Yes, and we can talk to him soon; if he needs help, we can help him. Just remember you can't help them if you are too hungry to move."

The talk about House Elves had put a bit of a damper on Hermione's birthday. The two finished their lunch and returned to cuddling on the sofa, but they had lost the comfortable relaxed feeling of that morning. Whereas earlier that morning they debated the lessons that 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' taught to magical children, they now discussed elves and how to go about helping them.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Unknown to the two teens, Dobby the House Elf was in the room listening to them. He was quiet and unseeable so as to not disturb his friend and his friend's Grangy. He was not liking what he heard. No, he was not liking it much _at all_. If Mister Harry Potter and his Grangy was sticking their noses then theys be discovering Dobby's secret and Dobby would get clothes again. Clothes now would be bad.


	17. Chapter 17 - calm before the storm

Chapter 17 - calm before the storm

The week after Hermione's birthday had been rather hectic. It started at the end of the very first lesson on Monday morning.

Professor McGonagall had just wrapped up her lesson for the day when she addressed the Gryffindors in the class, "Before you all leave I need one moment from my Lions please!" she called, as the class got ready to leave. The Gryffindors all waited while the Ravenclaws continued to pack up, "As you're all in my house, you should hand Hogsmeade permission forms to me before the end of the week. No form, no visiting the village this weekend, so don't forget! Ravenclaw students, you will need to hand yours into Professor Flitwick, who will no doubt ask for them soon", she added for the few Ravenclaws who hadn't left yet.

Harry and Hermione both had their slips tucked into their transfiguration books, after Hermione had guessed that they would eventually have to hand the forms over to their Head of House. So the two of them handed over their notes right then.

The Professor looked over the notes and frowned, "Mr Potter and Miss Granger, I will need to talk to you about these after everyone else leaves." The two of them retook their seats after exchanging confused looks. It took about a minute for all the students to leave, most shooting them curious glances on their way out.

Once all the other students had left the Professor approached them holding their permission slips, "Would you care to explain why Miss Granger's father has signed both of these forms?"

Harry was just wondering how to respond when Hermione spoke up, "Harry was with my parents and I this summer. They are his guardians at the moment. So when the form came they signed it."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple Miss Granger. While Harry's aunt and uncle may have trusted your parents to act as Harry's guardians while he stayed with you, that doesn't make them his _legal_ guardians", she stressed the word legal, making her point clear.

Hermione looked over at Harry, silently saying it was up to him how much he wanted to reveal. He got up and passed back and forth for a few moments. Professor McGonagall looked like she was about to interrupt but Hermione touched her hand to get her attention and shook her head. Asking the Professor without words to wait.

Harry sat back down, but instead of sitting in the chair facing his teacher, he sat on the corner of the desk facing away from her and Hermione. "They are my legal guardians." Harry's voice was barely above a whisper, but still easily heard in the empty classroom, "S-stuff happened over the summer. No...that's not quite right. This stuff has _always _been happening, but on my last birthday, I-it was too much. My magic ran out of control. By the time it had finished I had apparently apparated to the Grangers'. The DMLE investigated of course, they thought that me going back to my aunt and uncle would be a danger to the Statute of Secrecy, so I'm not allowed back there until they say otherwise. Mr and Mrs Granger sighed a bunch of forms making them my temporary legal guardians. They are good people."

Harry hadn't moved or varied his tone during his little speech. Hermione had moved next to him and put an arm around him halfway through.

"Is that enough Professor, or do I need to tell you more?" for the first time since he'd started speaking his voice had a little inflection.

"No Mr Potter. I will need to write to Mr and Mrs Granger to confirm this but I need no more from you. You two can go get ready for your next lesson." The two teens picked up their bags and made their way out.

Professor McGonagall called after them as they exited the classroom, "Mr Potter, Miss Granger, if I find you are lying so you can visit the village, you will be in a lot of trouble. Now off you go."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry and Hermione left the Astronomy theory classroom chatting with Lavender and Dean; "I still don't get why he is doing it. It will be obvious to anyone it was his own fault", Dean insisted as they walked down the steps to the Astronomy tower.

Lavender giggled, "Sometimes it's easy to see you grew up in the muggle world Dean. It won't be obvious at all. Not if his father doesn't want it to be."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

Harry answered, "Just look at his father Hermione. Lucius Malfoy is probably friends with the people who will be doing the investigation. If he wants it to go one way he will just ask them to do it."

"More like bribing them. Fortuna Major," said Lavender, as they had arrived at the Gryffindor common room.

"But that's not justice! That's just wrong", Hermione exclaimed, getting passionately worked up.

Lavender shrugged in response, "nothing we can do about it."

Hermione got a determined look in her eye, one which Harry knew all too well, "We will see about that", she turned to Harry, "Harry, we are going to Hagrid's."

Hermione started to pull him back out the still open portrait hole. "Wait up a sec 'Mione", she turned to look at him, impatiently tapping her foot on the ground, "Let me drop my books in my trunk and grab my Cloak." She looked at her bag, then at the rain running down the common room windows before nodding.

They both ran up the stairs to their respective dorms. Harry pulled one of his trunk keys out of a little pocket he had added to his wand holster. Quickly turning the key in the lock, his wardrobe popped out. He exchanged his book bag for his cloak, closed his trunk and return to the common room.

Hermione appeared a few seconds later carrying her cloak under one arm. She pulled Harry out the portrait hole and down through the school. They stopped when they reached the entrance hall, taking a moment to don their cloaks before venturing off into the rain.

The rain beat against their cloaks as they traversed the green between the castle and the forbidden forest. Hagrid's hut sat on the edge of the Hogwarts boundary and overlooked many of the paths that lead deeper into the trees. Harry thought of the time he'd had to go into the forest and hoped he wouldn't ever have to go in there again.

Hagrid opened the door after Hermione's knocking, "'ello you two. Get in 'ere out of the rain." He invited them in out of the rain. The two of them took the seat opposite the one Hagrid had been using. The two of them fit easily on the single seat sized for Hagrid, while said groundskeeper busied himself with an oversized copper kettle and giant mugs, making everyone tea. Fang, Hagrid's black boarhound, rested his head between Harry and Hermione, trying to get his ears scratched.

A few minutes later, tea in hand and tooth snapping rock cakes politely declined, Hagrid started up the conversation, "So wha' brings the two of you down 'ere? You two still fighting wi' Ron?"

Hermione scowled in way of reply, "_He_ is the one doing the fighting. What more does he want from me!? I said I would keep Crookshanks out of the boy's dorm and I have. It's like Professor McGonagall said, he is the one who brought a rat to a school full of cats and owls. What, did he think that everyone was gonna send their familiars home?"

She was working herself up into a real state. If she was allowed to continue they would never get to the reason they had come down and Hermione would get mad at herself. Harry quickly began speaking as she paused in her tirade, "Actually, we came down to find out what happened between Draco and Buckbeak. We heard the Ministry is holding a trial?"

Hagrid's mood changed instantly, his usually warm demeanour changing to a more closed-off one, "Lucius Malfoy is sayin' tha' I didn' do enough to stop his boy getting hurt. He is tryin' to sue me for twenty thousand Galleons -" Harry did a rough conversion in his head; that was about ninety-four thousand pounds. It was a lot of money. "- Dumbledore said he was gonna help me with it. He knows how the courts an' laws work. He's a good man, Dumbledore."

He quickly became emotional, as he did whenever he talked about the wizened Headmaster. Harry had learned the year before why Hagrid was so enamoured with the Headmaster; when he'd had been accused of opening the Chamber of Secrets he had lost everything. When Hagrid had nothing; no home, no family and, Harry suspected, no hope, Dumbledore had given him a home, a job and even his respect. Harry looked at Hermione; he could easily see how you could end up devoted to someone after that sort of thing.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Professor Babbling was giving out an assignment in her Ancient Runes class; "OK class, here I have your first group project. The task is to translate the Rune text I will provide in just a second. Each group will have its own text to translate, so you can't get the answer from another group. Once you translate the text you will find that it is a set of instructions on using Runes for a Beginner's project. You will collect the materials for the project from me, once you finish your translation. Then you will follow the instructions and present the completed project to the class, with a presentation on why those Runes were used for your completed project.

You will be working in the pre-assigned groups you were given last week", she waved her wand at the blackboard and the groups appeared. Harry was working with Hermione, and they were partnered with Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis, both of whom were Slytherins. Harry looked over the groups; every group had at least two houses in it.

The class shuffled around to sit in their assigned groups. Daphne and Tracy joined Harry and Hermione at their table at the front of the class. They set their bags down and sat in the recently vacated chairs on Harry's right, as Sue Li and Padma Patil had gone off to find their own groups.

"Hey Granger, Potter", Daphne greeted quietly after she had sat down next to Harry.

Harry hesitated for a second, " Greengrass, Davis...uh...hey." Harry didn't know what to say to these Slytherins. The Slytherins he always interacted with usually seemed to be trying to get him into trouble.

Daphne stared at him and sighed, "Are we going to have a problem, just because Tracy and I are in Slytherin?"

Harry gaped back at the two of them, taken aback. Just outright asking like that was more of a Gryffindor approach than a Slytherin one, but with the question out there Harry decided to just go with it and get it out of his way, "Depends...Do you plan to work with us, or do you plan to try and get me and Hermione in trouble while insulting my parents and Hermione's blood status?"

Daphne and Tracy were shocked by the amount of venom in his voice. Harry hadn't raised his volume but his tone was harsh and unforgiving.

"What the fuck Potter!? What has Slytherin, as a whole, ever done to earn that level of hate. Malfoy may be a bloody nightmare but he doesn't speak for us all."

Harry snorted back, "Yeah, but it's not just Malfoy, is it Greengrass? Crabble, Goyle, Nott, Parkinson and Flint are some of the others, just to name the ones off the top of my head, and let's not forget the Chief Slytherin, Professor Snape. Who, if you remember, opened his _very first class_ with _first years_, by berating me for something I couldn't have known-"

Hermione stayed silent, though she _had _known the answer to the question. It _was _quite near to the end of the year, however.

"-On the other end of the scale, the nicest thing any Slytherin has ever said to me was just now, when you said 'Hey Granger, hey Potter'. And that's in over _two whole years_ here, that's the friendliest you, or any Slytherin, has ever been. Let me ask, would _you _trust you in my position?"

Before Daphne or Tracy could respond, Professor Babbling came over and handed them their project packet, "I think you will do well with this one Mr Potter", she said before walking over to the next group.

Once she was gone, Daphne opened her mouth to answer Harry, but Tracy cut in, silencing her friend, "he's right Daph; we chose not to get involved, we can't be surprised that Harry won't trust us just like that."

"But he never tried to talk with us either, how is it our fault?"

Hermione cut in this time, "Daphne, how can Harry try when your housemates keep treating him the way they do? If you want Harry to see you as better than your housemates, then prove it to us. If you always stay silent, then, of course, we think that you agree with them. Anyway, enough of this, let's just do our project without the normal petty sniping."

While the three of them had been arguing Hermione had opened the project pack and looked through it, "This Rune script is pretty long, I suggest we each take a section, that will probably be fastest."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry and Hermione were sharing one of the horseless carriages with the Patil twins as it started away from Hogwarts. The Patils' had been in the queue of students going to Hogsmeade village, just behind Harry and Hermione, so they ended up sharing a carriage. The twins were discussing their plans for what they were calling a 'sisters' day', while Harry and Hermione said that they just planned to explore.

As the carriage sped on towards Hogwart's front gates, the air suddenly started to grow very cold. This time, knowing what it was, Harry knew he was feeling his happiness being suppressed, and those words, words from long ago, started floating through his head once more...

_**Freak...**_

_**Worthless...**_

_**Burden…**_

_and again he heard those echoing cries..._

"_**No! Please, no!"**_

Harry felt Hermione pull herself into Harry's side, seeking comfort and warmth from him. The Patil sisters were doing the same on the other side of the carriage. Soon they had passed through the walls and were moving down the road to the village. Padma pulled a bar of chocolate out of her bag and split it with her sister.

She apologized for not sharing with them, "Sorry guys, I don't have enough to share with you."

Hermione waved her hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it, we'll pick some up in the village. We should probably pick up a few bars for the trip back as well."

Soon the carriage pulled into the area next to the train station, and the four of them started travelling the last quarter mile on foot. On the outskirts of the village, the Patil twins went off on their own, saying something about a hair appointment. That left the two remaining Gryffindors to wander through the village as they made their way to the village square, where most of the shops were located.

They walked down a street aligned with three-storey townhouses. Each one was built in its own style; one would be a white-washed daub with black timber frames, the next a red brick, then followed by what could only be described as an impossible log cabin that had to be held up by magic. Each of the homes had a family crest on the front door. One of the houses, an old fashioned whitewashed wattle and daub house, had its crest as stained glass on the top half of the door. It was a cauldron with three potion bottles over it, a field of brown as the background.

They reached the village square and looked around. There were shops selling everything, from school & office supplies, to a store that arranged and took care of funerals.

"Where do you want to go first?" Harry asked as he looked around.

Hermione bit her lower lip while she thought about it. Harry didn't think she knew just how cute she looked when she did that, and he was about to go in for a quick kiss when she then answered, "I think we should go to Honeydukes first", Harry turned and looked over at the bustling sweetshop, "I know it's a bit crowded...but," she shivered slightly, "I think we could do with some chocolate."

It was obvious what she was saying, without saying it. She wanted to cure the lingering effects of the Dementors so that they could enjoy their day out/date.

As they joined the crowd in the sweetshop, Harry wasn't sure if he could call this a date or not. Neither of them had called it a date, but they were in Hogsmeade as a couple, and most of the older Gryffindors he had spoken to had said they used Hogsmeade weekends for dates. Harry decided it didn't matter much what they called it, he was still going to make sure his girlfriend enjoyed herself.

They looked around the shop at all the sweets available. There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking treats imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat; shimmering pink squares of coconut ice; fat, honey-coloured toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows; in the corner of the room there was a large barrel of Every Flavour Beans; and another of Fizzing Whizbees; levitating sherbet balls that made you hover a few inches off the ground as you suck them, along yet another wall were 'Special Effects' sweets; Drooble's Best Blowing Gum (which filled a room with bluebell-coloured bubbles that refused to pop for days); the strange, splintery Toothflossing Stringmints; tiny black Pepper Imps ('_breathe fire for your friends!_'); Ice Mice ('_hear your teeth chatter and squeak!_'); peppermint creams shaped like toads ('_hop realistically in the stomach!_'); fragile sugar-spun quills; and exploding bonbons.

Hermione picked up a few packs of the Tooth Flossing Stringmints; some for herself, and some to send home for her parents. She looked at the sugar quills but decided she still had plenty from the box Harry had gotten her for her birthday last week. Harry got a pack of Fizzing Whizzbees, he loved flying so the sweet seemed like fun and worth trying. He also grabbed a couple of packs of Pepper Imps. They started looking at the chocolates, seeing that there was a Ministry notice on one of the barrels;

**BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC**

_Customers are reminded that until further notice, _

_**Dementors **__will be patrolling the streets of Hogsmeade __**every night after sundown**__._

_This measure has been put in place for the safety of Hogsmeade residents and __**will be lifted upon the recapture of Bellatrix LeStrange.**_

_It is therefore advisable that you complete your shopping well before nightfall. _

_**Merry Christmas!**_

The barrel was filled with bags of chocolate quidditch balls. Each bag was priced at 3 sickles and contained 50 small balls, all individually wrapped in different colours of foil, giving them some resemblance to the quidditch balls they were named after. Harry grabbed two of bags of these; one for himself and one for Hermione. They each grabbed a few more things for themselves and went to explore the other shops after paying.

They spent the next few hours exploring Dervish and Banges, Gladrags Wizardwear, 's Potions, Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, Spintwitches Sporting Needs, and lastly, Tomes and Scrolls. They had saved this shop for last, for the same reason they left Flourish and Blotts till last when they went to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies. Tomes are heavy, and Hermione wanted to get multiple tomes.

Now the two were heading into the Three Broomsticks, "why don't you find us somewhere to sit, while I go get us some drinks", Hermione handed Harry the bags she was carrying, almost dislocating his arm from the heavy tomes. Hermione smiled as he struggled to lift up the extremely heavy bag, "bloody hell Hermione! How on earth did you carry this around!?"

She smirked at him, before whispering a spell under her breath, pointing her wand at the bag. Suddenly, the weight disappeared, and Harry felt his muscles relax. She winked at his baffled expression, before she turned to go buy the drinks. Harry called out at her;

"Uh, shouldn't I be the one buying the drinks?" he asked, a little confused.

"A guy doesn't have to pay for everything Harry." She kissed him on the cheek, "Now go find us a table", she left and went to the bar.

Harry started looking around for somewhere to sit. He didn't know if it was different because it was the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, but the pub was absolutely full. It seemed that every student, third year and over, was trying to squeeze into here. Harry was finally able to grab a small table when two adult witches got up to leave, complaining about how "there's never room to wave a wand* when the Hogwarts students are let loose." Harry claimed the table before anyone else was able to.

A young woman, who looked vaguely familiar and seemed young enough to have been a N.E.W.T student this time last year, came around, and with a quick cleaning charm and a wave of her wand, she sent the used glasses still sitting on the table to the kitchen. After she had moved on, Harry looked around for Hermione and saw her carrying a couple of drinks as she looked for him. Harry waved at her so she could see him.

Once she'd taken her seat, Harry noticed the drink Hermione had gotten him and looked at her quizzically. She gestured towards the drink, so he took a tentative sip, then started drinking deeply. It was the most delicious thing he'd ever tasted and seemed to heat every bit of him from the inside. It was warm and creamy with warm spices. "This. Is. Amazing. Thanks, Mione!" He continued drinking, then after a second, he stopped, "What is it?"

"It's called Butterbeer, all the other students are buying it so I thought it might be worth giving a try." She took a small sip from her own tankard. Her eyes opened wider and her ears stood up straighter, then, just like Harry, she took a deeper drink of the liquid nirvana they had just discovered.

"Next rounds on me?" Harry asked, to which Hermione nodded enthusiastically.

They sat there drinking their Butterbeer and talking about the things they had bought. Predictably, Hermione hadn't been able to leave a bookshop without at least three new books. One was on the history of the magical village of Hogsmeade, and one was a first for Hermione 'The Witch and the Wishing Stone', it was the first wizard world fiction book she had ever bought. The last one was a book on the history of House Elves.

Hermione had become very interested in House Elves after they had talked with Dobby during the week. Dobby had explained some of the history and culture of his race and a good bit about how their magic worked. House elves, it turned out, were related to Boggarts and Dementors, and only the Boggarts were a naturally occurring species. A long time ago there had been a witch who had done a lot of experimenting on Boggarts. Eventually, in order to try and study their nature, she tried breeding and fusing them with other creatures. Most of the resulting creations had been total failures, but those two creations were not.

First were the House Elves who, instead of just being parasites who fed on the magic given off by wizards and witches when they are afraid, fed off all types of magic they gave off. Over time and more experimentation, the House Elves become what they are today. They serve wizards and witches so that they can feed on the magic they give off. They look after the homes so that wizards and witches don't exhaust their magic, as an exhausted mage gives off less magic. And also, according to Dobby, because "happy masters has yummier magics".

This was also why Hogwarts had the biggest colony of House Elves in Britain. The students gave off a lot of magic collectively, so it was easy for them to live there.

The Dementors had been created second. After her success with House Elves the witch, whose name had been lost to time, tried to create another magical race by combining Boggarts with Lethifolds. Unfortunately, unlike with House Elves, that suppressed the darker nature of the Boggart, the Dementor race amplified it, creating the soul-sucking demons they are today. Dobby also explained that the creator of his people was the first victim of the Dementor's kiss, "She was not knowing of the kiss. So she was doing nothing to stops them."

It was Harry's turn to grab the drinks; he made his way over to the bar carrying his and Hermione's empty tankards. The witch behind the bar served a few people who were waiting before him before she got to Harry;

"What will it be love?" She smiled at him,

"Two refills on the Butterbeer please", he put the tankards on the bar and fished in his pocket for the sickles he needed while the bar women poured the drinks he ordered.

"Your Harry Potter, ain't you?" She asked just as she finished pouring the first drink. She spoke in a conversational way, without the reverence most people had when they asked that question.

Harry nodded, "Yeah."

"I'm Madam Rosmerta. I remember when your parents used to come in here. Your dad used to try sweet talking me into selling him fire whiskey and your mum was always in here with her friends. Your parents even came here on their first date." Harry blushed and glanced over at Hermione. Madam Rosmerta noticed where he was looking and smirked at him, "Well, you certainly have your father beat there Mr Potter, he didn't bring a date here till he was a fifth year. You be sure to treat her well, she seemed like such a nice girl when she got your first round. Speaking of which, that will be six sickles."

Harry handed over the stack of silver coins, "Yeah, I definitely will. She is the best, and I relly like her." He took the two drinks and returned to where they were sitting, only to find Daphne and Tracy sitting with her. There was no hostility between the three, which surprised Harry, thinking back to Draco's specific targeting of Hermione for being a muggle-born. He set Hermione's drink in front of her and retook his seat, nodding to the two girls, "Daphne, Tracy."

He looked at his girlfriend, silently asking her why the two Slytherins were sitting with them. She smiled and rolled her eyes at his antics, but provided him with an answer, "I invited them to sit with us. This place is too full for them to find a table of their own."

Harry smiled. He and Hermione had worked with the two of them most days over the last week since they were given their Runes assignment. Daphne and Tracy had been perfectly cordial, teetering on the edge of friendly.

"How has your day been? You two had fun?" Harry asked. Tracy nodded enthusiastically, "we spent some time at the music store, you know, Dominic Maestro's? I got the new Weird Sisters album for my gramophone."

Harry looked baffled at the mention of the wizarding band, "What type of music do they play?"

Daphne and Tracy looked at him in complete shock, "How do you not know the Weird Sisters!? They are played quite often on the Wizard Wireless Network. They're pretty much celebrities."

He shrugged, "never really had access to a wizard radio. Or any opportunity to hear any wizarding world music."

Daphne looked a little down as she said, "well that must suck."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

They sat there for a while longer, first talking about the difference between Muggle and Magical music, then about whatever topic took their fancy. Eventually they landed on their Runes project.

"I tell you, I _know _that Rune array is an anchor for a long term undetectable expansion charm", Harry adamantly told the two Slytherins.

"It can't be, that array would be a fourth year one! It _must _be something else", Tracy argued back.

"If Harry says it's an undetectable expansion charm I trust him", Hermione said.

"But how would Harry know?" asked Daphne, "It's not like he has any more experience than we do."

Harry looked at Hermione, silently asking for permission to tell the two other girls about the headband and bag he had given her. She nodded easily enough; it wasn't like she hid her ears and tail in the wizarding world so there wasn't a big secret to keep.

"At the end of last year, before Hermione and I went back to the muggle world, I realised that Hermione's ears and tail would keep her shut-in over the summer. Professor Babbling helped me make something to hide her cat features so that she could go out in the muggle world. We used that same array to create extra space to contain the parts that need hiding from Muggles."

The two Slytherins looked at him, amazed, "you made an enchanted item in _Second _year!?" Daphne asked, her voice, just like her face, completely shocked.

Harry shrugged back, "Yeah...but not really. I just did what Professor Babbling told me to. Step by step she worked everything out magically."

"Why expansion charms though, not invisibility?" Tracy asked.

"Invisibility can still be touched. Last thing I wanted was some muggle freaking out because they sat next to me on a bus and puts their hand on a fluffy tail they can't see", Hermione explained while waving her tail around.

They talked for about another 20 minutes or so before Harry and Hermione called it a day and decided to return to the Castle for some dinner. They left Daphne and Tracy at the Three Broomsticks and made their way back over to the carriages. They were soon approaching Hogwart's gates, the chill of the Dementors telling them really how close they were long before they saw the window-topped pillars marking the entrance to the Castle. The chocolate Quidditch balls seemed to do quite well against the effects of the soul-sucking creatures from such short exposure.

As the carriages made their way across the Hogwarts grounds Hermione leaned into Harry, stealing his lips for a long deep kiss, "Thank you for such a lovely date."

Harry didn't notice that the carriage had come to a stop, what with him getting thoroughly snogged by his girlfriend. After a few more seconds, Hermione broke the kiss, gathering up her purchases and climbing out of the carriage with a grin on her face. She waited for almost two minutes before Harry's brain caught up enough for him to join her.

**Author's Notes:**

Lethifold - The Lethifold (also known as the Living Shroud) is a carnivorous and highly dangerous magical beast. It is also considered a Dark creature because of its highly aggressive and violent nature. (Source:  wiki/Lethifold)

No room to wave a wand* - we have the saying no room to swing a cat, which I often see with a wizard equivalent 'no room st swing a kneazle.' however the popular theory says that swinging a cat doesn't refer to a feline but a type of whip. In that context, I decided that 'No room to wave a wand' or 'No room to sling a spell' would be the line witches and wizards would use.

i love all the comments and reviews i get i read them all

The next chapter is going to be a bit of a time skip


	18. Chapter 18 - Halloween part I

Hey, everyone, I hope your week has been better than mine. life can seriously suck sometimes. so few things my bata has been having computer issues. so this chapter is not fully edited. I put a note where the edited part ends.

as i am currently without a bata/editor wile matty gets his computer up and running again if anyone wants to be my backup editor or just wants to chill on discord drop me a pm

edit: the whole chapter is edited now

**Chapter 18 Halloween part I**

It was the third weekend of October and winter was approaching with a vengeance. The winds had come in, bringing the rain with them. Harry was out on the Quidditch pitch running drills with the rest of the team. Wood had already had them out there for three hours, meaning that the Gryffindor Seeker was soaked to the bone and frozen to his broom. He loved flying but right now he just wanted to go back to the common room and collapse next to the fire. Maybe Hermione would be willing to cuddle up to him to warm him up.

But returning to the castle soon would be out of the question, as next weekend was Halloween and the week after that was half term. While in Muggle schools half-term was a week at home, at Hogwarts it was more of an events week; there would be no classes but there would be two Quidditch matches and many of the school's clubs would host an event, such as the Gobstones and Chess clubs both holding a tournament over the break. With Halloween next weekend this was probably the last full day of training before their first game of the year, and Wood was gonna make sure that they used it to the fullest.

There was a blast of a whistle, then Harry heard Wood calling out, barely louder than the wind, "Huddle up everyone!" He flew over to hit captain along with the rest of the team, before he continued, "Right, you lot did well on the drills, considering the poor visibility. Harry, you seemed to be having problems though, what's the issue?"

"It's my glasses," Harry replied, taking off his pair and wiping them with his soaking sleeve, "The rain keeps fogging them up."

Wood sighed, "There's a good chance we will be playing Hufflepuff in conditions like this, so see if you can find a solution. Maybe you could ask McGonagall?" Harry nodded, but he'd been thinking of another person. Hermione would probably have a solution for this, she just _knew _so many spells.

The team had been surprised at the start of practice to hear that their match had been changed from Slytherin to Hufflepuff. Not wanting to play in the bad weather, Slytherin had pulled out, using Malfoy's fake injury as an excuse. And as another team needed to pull out for later as well, Ravenclaw had jumped at the opportunity to skip the bad weather.

When Wood had tried to drop out, as they where the team booked to play Slytherin, the Ravenclaw team had argued that their match would be more entertaining if they had more time to train their new Seeker. Madam Hooch had responded that the argument that their match would be more fun to watch with their Seeker trained up more was a fair one, and had sided with the Ravenclaw captain over Gryffindor.

"Ok, we're gonna run through some three-on-three matches for an hour, before calling it a day. Potter, Weasley and Johnson, you are one team. Bell, the other Weasley and Spinnet are on the other," Wood called out over the roaring wind.

"Which Weasley?" The twins called out in unison.

Alicia snorted, "Like it matters," causing a giggle from her fellow chasers;

"Oh, it _definitely _matters", Angelina and Katie replied at the same time, trying to imitate Fred and George's twin speak before they broke into further giggles.

An hour later, Harry was sitting in the male half of the Gryffindor changing room, trying to get a bit of warmth into his legs. He had flown into the changing room and had collapsed on one of the benches, along with all of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. While he was waiting for the blood to return to his legs, he silently debated just walking into the shower fully clothed; it wasn't as if his Quidditch kit could get any wetter. He was just about to drag himself to the hot water when he heard one of the twins shouting, "Alicia, what are you doing in here!? We're changing!"

Alicia ignored them and walked over to Harry, handing him a vile of potion, "Drink it harry. It's a Pepper-Up potion," she said, before raising her voice, making it clear that the next bit was aimed at other people, than just Harry, "Wood needs to remember, your body is smaller, and while that makes you a fantastic seeker, you lose body warmth a lot faster."

Harry drank the potion, bracing himself for the effects. For two or three seconds it felt like his mouth was on fire. A side effect of the chilli-pepper that gave the potion its name, the heat quickly passed from his mouth and flowed into the rest of his body, returning the feeling to his nerves as it went. Steam started to puff from his ears, but with the numbing cold now gone from his limbs, Harry didn't seem to care about that other side effect.

"Now, you go grab a shower while I talk to Oliver about keeping our Seeker healthy. He'll listen if _he _wants to remain healthy."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Sunday 31st October**

Harry woke up with Oliver Wood standing over him shaking him awake, "Up, Potter! I was able to book the pitch today, so we are getting extra practice in." It took Harry a few minutes for his brain to catch up with what was going on as he fought off his sleepiness. As his mind cleared, he realised that his captain was trying to get him to practice Quidditch...on Halloween.

Wood could piss _right _off. He rolled over and turned his back to Wood, who was not deterred in his attempts;

"No being lazy! Come on Harry, while the other teams slack off for the day, we will train, this year; that cup is ours!" He tried in vain to motivate his Seeker to come and practice, but Harry was having none of it, "No, Oliver, It's Halloween. Go away!"

Wood wasn't stopped that easily, and started pulling on Harry's blanket, trying to get him up.

"Wood, just _fuck off_!" Harry just could not be bothered with Quidditch today.

A few seconds later there was more noise as the twins entered the room, hearing Harry's situation from the other room. Harry, expecting that they were there to help Wood, just groaned loudly, pulling his blanket over his head. However, the two twins went and grabbed Wood, starting to pull him out of the room.

"What are you two doing?" Oliver demanded. They didn't answer and continued to drag him out. Once the door closed, Harry heard a muffled argument outside of the door that quickly faded as Fred and George pulled their captain back upstairs.

Harry tried to go back to sleep but just wasn't able to; now that he was awake he would have to face the day he'd been hoping to sleep through as much as possible. "I fucking hate Halloween", he muttered as he dragged himself out of bed and got dressed. He pulled his trunk open to its bookshelf and selected one of the tombs before making his way down to the common room.

Hermione was sat near the fire waiting for him. She walked over and put her arms around him, though this wasn't one of her normal hugs, it was one of her 'hold him as close as possible' hugs. It was more gentle and calm. She looked at the book Harry was carrying and nodded, neither of them needing words.

Harry made his way over to the portrait hole with Hermione refusing to remove her one arm from around him, and she just walked alongside him. They reached the grand staircase without speaking, before Harry started to talk, "'Mione...I don't feel like breakfast, but you should go. Maybe even go to Hogsmeade; you don't need to be around me today." This weekend was the second Hogsmeade weekend of the year. Most students had gone yesterday but Harry and Hermione had stayed in the castle.

Hermione gave him an angry glare, "I'm not going _anywhere _Harry Potter, not when you're like this. I would be a terrible girlfriend if I did." Harry thought about arguing with her, she should be able to go have fun, even if he was miserable, but he knew she wouldn't and he secretly really did want her to stay.

Today would be hard enough without feeling alone.

Harry considered where he wanted to go, or more accurately, where could he go without being bothered by anyone. Then, inspiration struck and he led his girlfriend up to the Seventh floor. A quick back and forth up and down the corridor, and the Room of Requirement popped into existence in front of their very eyes.

The room was very much like it was for Hermione's birthday, with a comfortable sofa in front of a fire. Only, there was no dining table this time, and the colours were all much darker and gloomier, casting daunting shadows across the room. Harry collapsed on the sofa clutching the tome to his chest, while Hermione settled next to him.

"I'm sorry Hermione...I know today is also two years since we became friends, but it's also..." Harry trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence, not wanting to put those terrible thoughts and memories into words.

Hermione continued for him, "...Twelve years since that night. I know Harry, It's OK." She put her arm back around him and snuggled into his side, "Do you want to talk about it?" she tentatively offered, only for Harry to shake his head.

They sat there for a while his thoughts alternated between his parents, the Chamber of Secrets, before it finally settled on one of his worst memories; when the Troll had attacked Hermione in their First year;

_Harry was walking around the halls of Hogwarts. All his classmates were at the Halloween feast eating cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties. Harry, however, didn't feel like celebrating. He was never a fan of Halloween. One of the few things the Dursleys had told him that was the truth was the date his parents had died. And that date was the 31st October; Halloween._

_They had told him that his parents were drunk coming home from a fancy dress party, that they had taken Harry with them knowing that there would be drinking and that his father had driven their car off the road because he was too drunk to see straight._

_When Harry had discovered the magical world and learned that his parents had been murdered, he had hoped they had lied about the when as well. Other kids seemed to have so much fun on Halloween; costumes, trick or treating and all the sweets and games, but to him, it just never felt right to do anything fun that day. He had hoped that they lied so that he wouldn't not like Halloween._

_He had looked for books about that fateful day in the Hogwarts library, but he didn't find any. In the end, he had asked that Hermione girl. She had mentioned he was talked about in some books. The girl had lent him her own copies for a few days, where he had read a little about his parents and their murderer from the pages. How Voldemort was so obsessed with blood purity he and his followers had started what was called the 'blood war'._

_His father, who was pureblood, had married a muggle-born, his mother. This marriage had gone against everything Voldemort had stood for, so he had killed Harry's parents as an example. What happened after that was a mystery; all anyone knew was that Voldemort's body had been found and Harry was alive, with a mysterious lightning-shaped scar as the only noticeable damage to the child._

_As he wandered around the castle, he started to notice a weird smell. Not a pleasant one either, it was like someone had overcooked brussels sprouts and bad cheese in a toilet that hadn't been flushed in weeks. He had just decided to turn around and go somewhere that smelled a little nicer when he heard a scream._

_This scream wasn't a fun scream or a surprised scream. It was the type of scream Harry used to make before he learnt that his uncle hurt him less if he was silent. He didn't have a chance to think, he was already rushing to the source of the scream before he could consider doing anything else. His conscience wouldn't let him turn away, nobody should have to make that kind of scream, whether they be a muggle or a wizard or witch._

_He sprinted down the corridor, pushing himself as fast as his legs would take him. The screaming had stopped, but there was a number of bangs and crashes that directed him where to go. He rounded a corner and saw it; a hole in the wall of the corridor. Not a small hole either, it must have been ten or twelve feet wide. The banging, crashing and smell all seemed to be coming from the other side of that hole. There was also breathing, heavy laboured breathing, but whatever was doing that breathing was big. Not Uncle Vernon big though. Whatever it was, was so, so much bigger._

_He was just considering running when he heard another sound. Below the sound of stuff breaking and below the sound of heavy breathing, was an almost silent sobbing._

_There was someone in there._

_He was at the hole in the wall less than a second later, and on the other side looked to be the remains of a girls' toilet. Standing in the centre of the destruction was some sort of monster. It was twelve feet tall and shaped like a man with ugly grey skin. The smell didn't seem to come from the broken toilets, but from the thing, whatever it was._

_He could also see the source of the scream and sobbing right there, half-buried under the ruins of broken toilet stalls. It was the girl who had lent him her books, Hermione Granger. The hulking monster was looming over her, lifting the section of a tree it was using as a club, obviously intending to smash it into the Hermione girl. On pure instinct, Harry grabbed a piece of the broken stonework, and with all of his strength, threw the piece of masonry directly at the back of the monster's head, all while he shouted as loud as he could, "HEY! GET AWAY FROM HER!"_

_Harry didn't know if it was the stone, the words or a combination of the two that made the monster turn its attention to him, but suddenly it turned towards him, intent on squashing him with its club._

_The club was coming down and Harry was sure that he was about to die. He hoped the girl escaped, then at least it would be worth it. It was hopeless, but he flung himself to the left, trying to not be under the club. He succeeded in dodging the huge club, but now he was lying on the floor looking up at the monster, the club embedded in the ground next to him. For the first time he got a good look at its face. Its head was way too small for its body and was covered in long, brown, stiff hairs that looked more like whiskers than a beard. Its small eyes were fixed on Harry as it started to raise its club again._

_Harry moved, trying to get up and run, but his right side flared up in pain. While he had avoided the club, it had thrown shrapnel as it broke the stone floor. The shrapnel that Harry hadn't even tried to dodge. The pain caused him to falter, and it ended up saving his life. The monster's club came down exactly where Harry would have been if the pain in his side hadn't caused him to stumble. There was more shrapnel, and this time his face took the worst of it, only his glasses keeping the sharp flecks of stone from his eyes._

_Harry started to run before the monster raised his club again. He was running down the corridor, hoping to lead the monster from the girl, and maybe even find a teacher who could help. He had run about thirty feet when he realized his mistake; he had run the wrong way down the corridor. He had unknowingly turned around while dodging the wooden club and had run down to a dead end. It really was a 'dead' end._

_He turned around, hoping to get past the monster, but it wasn't following him that quickly. It seemed to know that Harry was trapped, so instead of charging him it ambling towards him slowly, making sure Harry couldn't escape. It made its way down the corridor, each step making Harry's world smaller and smaller. He hoped Hermione had run for help with the monster taking its time, maybe a teacher could arrive before he got squished. Any teacher would do; hell, he'd be happy to see even Professor Snape right about now._

_Suddenly the back of the monster's head lit up with magic sparks. "H-hey! Leave h-him alone!" Hermione had gotten out from under the debris and was standing behind the monster. Maybe she didn't think she had time, or maybe she hadn't thought of it, but she hadn't gone for help. So, in the reverse of the positions from a few moments ago, she was now trying to save him. Unfortunately, the magic Hermione had used was about as effective as the rock Harry had used earlier. Utterly useless._

_The monster looked back and forth between Harry and Hermione for a few seconds, confused. Then it went after Hermione. If she had had a plan, she instantly forgot it when the towering grey mass started lumbering towards her. Instead, she froze to the spot, not even attempting to run._

"_RUN!" Harry shouted at her, but she didn't. It was like she didn't even hear him._

_Suddenly, Harry had a bright idea. He started running at the monster's back, hoping to be able to climb up to its head. He had to get up to the head if it was going to work. His plan was fairly simple; if he could get his wand in the monster's face, maybe a strong 'Lumos' could blind it long enough for him and Hermione to escape. It was a very risky, and probably very stupid, plan, but it was all he had._

_He caught up to the monster and jumped. He intended to grab onto the monster's clothes, which were little more than animal skins that it was wearing as a loincloth or toga, but as he jumped, he felt a rush of magic and found himself gripping the skins that the monster had over one shoulder. He started trying to scramble up the back of the monster, who at this point realised he was on its back and had started trying to shake him off. Harry was able to get his left arm around the monster's neck. The monster tried to grab at him, forcing Harry to move and retreat to the hard-to-reach spot in the middle of the monster's back._

_They both struggled for almost a minute before Harry saw an opening and jumped, flinging both his arms around the monster's neck. He pointed his wand up, and was just about to try the 'Lumos' charm, when the monster started to scream in pain._

_Harry's wand was stuck up the monster's nose._

_Harry tried to take the wand out of its nostrils, it wasn't doing Harry or the monster any good up there, but he had to hold onto both the monster and his wand and the monster's thrashing and shaking was not making it easy._

_Harry was starting to feel afraid, his arms were getting tired and he didn't know how much longer he could hold on for. Soon, his strength would give out and he and the nice girl who had lent him her books would die. Maybe dying won't be so bad. He could meet his parents. He looked at the girl and shook off that thought, he just needed to get his wand out of the monster's nose, then he and Hermione could run._

_He tried to remove his wand again, but he couldn't; he just didn't have any strength left, it was only desperation that was letting him hold on at this point. The only thing he could do was hope that the monster moved in just the right way and freed his wand. He started thinking over and over, 'get off my wand, get off my wand', if there were any magical gods, wouldn't they help him? Then, as if he had been answered, he felt the magic flow into his wand._

_It wasn't really a spell, nor was it completely accidental magic, it was more like an unusual mix of desperation and determination, causing his magic to try and push the monster off his wand. Then two things happened at once; there was a grunt of pain from the monster, who suddenly stopped struggling, and Harry's wand went shooting down the corridor. Harry thought he was going to die. Here he was, clutching to the neck of a monster that was trying to kill him, and now he didn't even have his wand to protect himself._

But instead of struggling and fighting him like Harry expected, the monster tipped forward and crashed into the floor. Harry screamed in pain as a crunching sound came from his left arm, as it was smashed between the floor and the monster. Harry rolled off of its back, trying to pull his arm out from under it, but the monster must've weighed at least a couple of tonnes.

Hermione had finally gotten over being scared to move and was now merely terrified. At least she was moving now. "Wingardium leviosa", with a swish and flick of her wand, the monster's head was lifted enough for Harry to shift his shattered arm. He tried hard not to cry out in pain, biting his lip so hard that it bled as he stifled the tears that were on the edge of his eyes.

The last thing he wanted was to wake up the monster, and it didn't look like it would take much; its foot was already twitching. He peeked at his arm to see how bad it was.

It was bad. Very bad.

Arms are only meant to bend at the joint, but his arm curved and swayed at places it shouldn't.

Hermione put her head under his good arm and used it to help get him to his feet, "Come on, we need to find a teacher and get you to the Hospital Wing."

Harry didn't argue. Right now he was only wishing for two things; that the monster wouldn't wake up and that his wand was OK. "My wand," he croaked, his voice sore and weak from the excessive amounts of screaming he had done, as well as the pain of his arm making his head dizzy, "I-I need my wand."

Hermione checked over Harry to make sure he wouldn't collapse without her supporting him, and then went to grab his wand. She pocketed it along with her own before she went back to helping Harry walk. They turned a corner and saw Professor McGonagall walking up the corridor.

Hermione called to her, "Professor help! Please!" The last word caught in Hermione's throat and came out as much a sob as it was a word.

McGonagall hurried over upon seeing the state of her two Gryffindors, "What happened Miss Granger? Why aren't you two in your dormitories!? Professor Dumbledore clearly told everyone to go back to their common rooms."

Hermione tried to hold herself together as she explained, "P-professor, I was in the b-bathroom and…" at this point tears began trickling down her face, but she ignored them, "...and then there was suddenly a-a troll there. It smashed everything..." Hermione tried again to continue, but Professor McGonagall held up her hand for silence.

McGonagall pointed her wand at her throat and then started speaking, only a lot louder than normal, "The troll has been located: fourth-floor girls' lavatory," she then pointed her wand at her throat again, ending whatever spell she had used, before telling Hermione in her regular voice to continue.

Hermione was openly crying now, "It was ab-about t-to..." she then broke down crying and buried her face in Harry's right shoulder as she sobbed. It aggravated the wounds on his side, but not enough for him to react to them.

He continued the story where Hermione left off, "When I got there the uh...troll was just about to attack Hermione." Harry's voice was monotone as he explained his version of what happened.

Professor Snape and Flitwick turned up partway through his explanation and went to deal with the still docile troll. Harry paid them no attention as they entered the destroyed bathroom, " -and it somehow knocked the troll out. It landed on my arm and then we left before it could wake up."

Harry jumped as someone started talking from close behind him, "Mr Potter, there is no chance of that troll waking up." Harry recognised Snape's voice, "You didn't knock it out. You killed it."


	19. Chapter 19 - Halloween part II

**Chapter 19 - Halloween part II**

Harry and Hermione were still in the Room of Requirement and they were looking through Harry's photo album. The page was currently on a picture of his parent's wedding, their two smiling faces beaming as they waved to Harry, whose tears were flowing freely.

Hermione had cast an impervious charm on the album a few hours ago, when Harry had started getting emotional at the pictures. As she sat with him, offering what little comfort she could, she wished she knew what to say to take away his pain. She wished she could see that beautiful smile of his, but knew it would be at least a few days before Harry would smile again for real. She couldn't take this pain away, she knew that, so all she could do was offer anything to help him through it. She knew he didn't want her to see him like this, but she couldn't abandon him when he was hurting the most.

He had never abandoned her.

Harry turned the page. It was another wedding photo with what looked like Harry's parents, along with the bridesmaids, one of whom bore a strong resemblance to Neville. The note underneath read: '_The new Mr & Mrs Potter with bridesmaids Alice, Andromeda & flower girl Nymphodora._'

Harry's mother was hugging the woman who looked to be Neville's mother. They looked like they were happy once.

The next page was similar to the last, only instead of bridesmaids, it was groomsmen. There were three men, who, according to the caption, were called _Sirius_, _Peter _and _Remus_. Harry and Hermione stared wide-eyed at this specific picture, though not at Harry's parents as they had with the other photos. Instead, they were staring at the man who stood next to Harry's mother, whose name was _Remus_.

Or as Harry and Hermione knew him, _Professor Lupin_. Harry suddenly understood why their DADA Professor had been bugging him all this time; he had been seeing the man in all these photos with his parents.

The two of them quickly flipped to the front of the book and started looking for their Professor. While he didn't appear a lot, he was there a couple of times, always with Harry's father. It was obvious that Harry's father and his Professor were friends.

"Why didn't he say anything!?" Harry queried out loud.

He hadn't meant to ask Hermione, who was sitting next to him, but she answered his question anyway, "I don't know Harry," they sat there in silence for a few minutes, each trying to find an answer, until Harry quietly said, "We could ask him."

"Sorry Harry, but we can't, at least not yet. He's off sick again, remember?" Hermione reasoned with him. Harry groaned in frustration; their professor had been mysteriously absent a few times this year already.

The two of them sat around for a while longer, but it was starting to get late. Dinner would be over soon and Harry wanted to be in his dorm before everyone got back, if he arrived when everyone else was in the common room, people would ask questions he didn't feel up to answering. The two left the Room of Requirement and started back to the dorms.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry and Hermione made their way back to the Gryffindor common room. They had spent the day thinking about Harry's parents, but now they just wanted to get back to the common room. Hermione's stomach growled loud enough for Harry to hear. He debated whether he should say anything; he had tried to get her to go to every meal that day, but she had refused to leave him alone. He decided against it, there was no way to get any food now, it was too close to curfew to take a trip to the kitchens.

They had climbed down the stairs to the Sixth floor, where the portrait door was located and started walking down the corridor. They soon reached the portrait hole, only something was not right.

The portrait of the fat lady was smashed to pieces, leaving the entranceway to the common room open for anyone to just walk in however they choose.

"What the hell happened here!?" Harry wondered, pulling out his wand.

Hermione, seeing that Harry had his wand out, did the same. Harry started towards the portrait hole, intending to see what had happened to the common room. Hermione grabbed him and pulled him back panic in her eyes.

"Harry wait! You can't just go in there," she told him as she pulled on his robes to stop him.

"Why not? It's our common room and I want to see if it's been trashed." Harry said as he fought not to stumble from Hermione's incessant pulling.

"_Because_, what if whoever did this is still in there Harry?" Hermione sounded a little exasperated, as well as a little afraid.

"Good! then I'll teach the git not to destroy our common room!" Harry was working himself up; he seemed to think it was some prank, but Hermione felt there was something a lot more dangerous there.

"Harry! What if it's LeStrange!?" Hermione furiously whispered to Harry, who had now broken her grip and was starting towards the common room again.

"Come off it Hermione. There is no way LeStrange got into the castle."

As though in response, a voice came from inside the common room. It was faint, but they could both hear the sinister tone behind it, "You should listen to your pretty-kitty more, Mr _Boy-Who-Lived_." Then from inside the doorway stepped out a woman. She was dressed in an old grey and dirty set of robes, skeletally thin with wild hair and crazed eyes.

Bellatrix LeStrange held a knife in one hand and a wand in the other.

Harry and Hermione were surprised by the sudden appearance of the woman and thrown off by the casual way she spoke to them, like she was having a normal conversation. So when she started firing off spell's, the two of them were caught off guard. Green light burst forth from Bellatrix's wand, quickly crossing the space between them and hitting Hermione in the face.

Hermione stumbled back and groaned in pain, blood gushing from her nose.

"Fucking wand is useless!" Bellatrix complained, shaking her wand disdainfully, before pointing it at Hermione again. Harry grabbed Hermione and pulled her behind a suit of armour just in time to avoid another green bolt of magic.

Harry reached around the suit and fired off a few of his own spells, "Flipendo! Expelliarmus!"

"Protego! Oh, little Potter wants to play!" Bellatrix laughed, her strangely high-pitched voice setting Harry on edge, "Stupefy!" this time the spell was red but it hit the armour they were hiding behind. Hermione started panicking but Harry was too busy throwing spell after spell back at Bellatrix. They weren't getting through to her but they did do some good.

They kept Bellatrix on the defensive, and as long as she was blocking Harry's spells her wand wasn't throwing any dangerous ones at them. Harry was also choosing spells that were loud and flashy. He knew that he wouldn't be to defeat LeStrange himself, but hopefully, he could alert someone else, preferably a Professor, to him. He hoped some help would come soon, he couldn't keep up this rate of spells forever.

"Everte Statum! Slugulus Eructo!" Harry fired off two quick spells, trying to catch the older witch off-guard.

"Haha! You missed, baby Potter," Bellatrix was taunting him, "Soon I will be over there and I will kill your little MogBlood while I make you watch!"

Harry felt his emotions threatening to overwhelm him. He couldn't let Hermione be hurt either. Wild magic against his muggle relatives was one thing but against a fully trained witch, it would be useless. So instead he took hold of his emotions and used them to fuel his magic. His magic flared within him but It was too much and it started to burn him from the inside out.

He had to let it go soon, but what spell to could he use it for?

Bellatrix took advantage of the lull in Harry's spells and moved ever closer. Harry was trying to think of a strong spell to use but the magic burning in his blood was distracting him. Then it hit him;

"Hey Bellatrix, dodge this! Incendio-maxima!"

Hermione was still slightly dazed at being hit in the face with a curse she was positive was meant to kill her. She would have time to freak out about that later, but right now, Harry needed her. She tightened her grip on her wand and turned to reach around the suit of armour they were hiding behind. Just as Harry cast his Incendio-maxima she flicked her wand, "Diffindo!"

The regular Incendio that was taught in the first year was good for lighting candles, or starting a fire from dry wood, and that was about it. Incendio-maxima was different as it was commonly used to keep certain magical creatures and plants in check, and as implied by the name, was a lot more powerful. Harry, however, had overpowered the spell and instead of the usual gout of flame a foot wide, the spell filled the entire hallway with fire. Unable to dodge it, Bellatrix countered it with a flame freezing charm. The two were stuck facing off, Harry's wand spewing flames at an astonishing rate, while Bellatrix charmed the flames just as quickly.

Hermione's severing charm broke the stalemate between the two. The charm hit Bellatrix in the face, tearing open a cut on her left cheek. This lead to a surprised Bellatrix faltering on her flame freezing charm. Suddenly the witch's experience went from a pleasant tingling to searing pain. The flames ate at her robes and assaulted her skin, causing Bellatrix to scream from the pain.

It took a few seconds for the screams to register for Harry, but when they did he hesitated, much to Hermione's shock. But he had heard too many screams like that, most of them from his own lips as he grew up. He couldn't bring himself to harm somebody like that, not when he'd experienced it himself. Harry stopped producing fire, the hall was still on fire but the stone floor and walls didn't provide a lot of fuel so it soon started to go out.

Bellatrix started to rise from the floor where she had curled up in a ball in an attempt to hide from the skin blistering heat.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry tried to disarm the woman as she stood up.

"Protego!" Bellatrix blocked the spell and Harry and Hermione got a good look at what their attacks had done to the convict. Hermione's severing charm had opened a deep gash in her cheek, her face covered in blood that had dried and burned in the heat of the fire. Her hair, while a mess before, was worse now, large parts of it burned away, and what they could see of her skin was covered in bright red, shiny patches, where the fire had reached her and scalded her.

The worst thing about her appearance at that moment was the look on her face. To say she was angry was an understatement; she was absolutely crazed with rage. She ran forward waving her wand, not casting any specific spells, just wanting to cause as much pain and death as possible. Harry and Hermione ducked and weaved around a few spells, but Bellatrix cast much quicker now than during their first fight, and with her being way closer now, it was impossible to hide behind the suit of armour again. Harry was hit first when he jumped in front of a spell that was aimed at his girlfriend. His arms snapped to his sides and his legs clamped together. Harry fell forward and since he was unable to move his arms, he felt as his nose smashed into the floor with a loud crunch, pain flaring across his face.

"Harry!" Hermione, distressed at Harry being hit, was too preoccupied trying to see if he was alive to even attempt to avoid the next spell aimed at her. She also fell under a full body bind, only she fell backwards, seeing spots dance in front of her eyes as her head hit the floor.

Bellatrix looked at the two petrified teens considering what she would do with them. After what they had just done to her they deserved something special. A couple of flicks with her wand sent those that had fallen next to the teens scuttering down the corridor. Another couple swishes and both teens had been bound in tight ropes, before she levitated Hermione and used a sticking charm to attach the ropes to the wall.

It would be more fun if the girl watched.

Hermione struggled to move as she watched on in horror as LeStrange moved Harry right into her line of sight. Whatever the crazy witch planned to do to Harry, she wanted Hermione to watch it. Hermione remembered the story Neville and Madam Longbottom had told them over the summer about what this woman had done to Neville's parents and her blood ran cold. She wanted to scream, she wanted to call for help, she wanted to claw out Bellatrix's eyes to keep her from Harry, but no matter how much she willed herself to move she couldn't even twitch a finger.

"Now where should we begin _Mr Boy-Who-Lived_?" Bellatrix asked, softly stroking Harry's cheek with the back of her hand; too softly for what she intended to do to him, "Oh, I know! 'Finite incantatem!" she released Harry from the full-body bind but the ropes still held him, and then slapped him across the face, "it wouldn't be any fun if I can't hear your screams." Hermione wished she could do something, _anything, _but all she could do was watch as Harry steeled his face, that look she knew all too well in his eye. The look he reserved for trolls and retrieving Philosopher's Stones and Basilisks. She knew Harry was about to do something reckless again.

Part of her wanted to beg him to not to anger the crazed women. She knew the woman was already insane, and if he pushed her too far she may just kill him.

Another secret part of her loved when Harry got that look. But all she could do was watch as Harry responded the only way he could, by spitting right in Bellatrix's face. She snarled in fury, slapping him again, harder, causing his cheek to bruise and bleed slightly.

Harry felt the sting of the second slap, but he remained impassive and just glared at Bellatrix unflinching. He had heard what she said about screaming, this woman was like his uncle; she wanted to see him in pain, and he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction.

She pointed her wand at his scar. "Crucio!" suddenly Harry felt pain like nothing he had ever felt before. Everything else fell from his mind, all there was was the pain, it was as if each of his nerve endings was submerged in boiling acid. It could have been seconds later, or even an hour, for all he knew when suddenly the pain was gone, leaving behind nothing but an ache where all his muscles had clenched and spasmed.

Bellatrix looked down at Harry an odd expression on her face. "You didn't scream Potter. Where is the fun if you don't scream?"

Harry did the only thing he could think of. He laughed at her and she hit him with that painful curse again.

Again and again, Bellatrix would curse him, trying to get him to scream, but years in the care of his uncle had flipped Harry's response to pain. Where others would call out for relief, Harry would go silent, impassive, just waiting for it to end. Only for her to end the curse for a time to taunt him.

Harry tried to call on his magic to push Bellatrix away, to cut his bonds, anything that would make the pain stop. However he had used too much; throwing spell after spell at Bellatrix had been draining in itself, but the fire had really taken it out of him.

Then there was noise. While it had been deserted before, this was the corridor right outside the Gryffindor common room, so sooner or later someone was bound to come along. And it seemed someone was right now. Bellatrix had gotten so engrossed in trying to break Harry she had forgotten that time was short. Now the students were coming up from dinner and time had run out. It was also older students who seemed to have arrived at the corridor first, by virtue of longer legs and better knowledge of the school's shortcuts. So it was little surprise that it was the Weasley twins who arrived first.

Where Harry had been silent, he now started shouting, "it's LeStrange! it's LeStrange!" suddenly pain flared across his jaw, but it was nothing compared to the curse so he kept on shouting. Bellatrix seemed to have forgotten that she could use magic, and instead of using a silencing spell, she punched Harry again in his jaw. He was sure it was broken.

The twins, on hearing the shouting, drew their wands and immediately began slinging magic. Seeing the two students and knowing more would be on the way, Bellatrix dove behind the same suit of armour that Harry and Hermione had, to avoid the spells thrown by the twins. She retreated down the corridor, shooting her own spells behind her as she went. The hall was soon filled with sparks of light, like it was only minutes before, only this time Harry and Hermione were in between the two sides. The two of them were forced to watch as coloured bolts of magic zipped back and forth, each skimming past their immobile frames.

Fred and George were far better duellers than Harry and Hermione were. Two more years of magical education and their innate teamwork meant that they had Bellatrix pinned down behind another suit of armour further down the corridor, unable to run under the barrage. Even if most of the spells the duo where firing were prank spells, Bellatrix could hear more students coming up behind the twins, and she knew she would be very outnumbered, very soon. Then a mad grin broke over her face as she shot one more spell from behind her cover;

"Incendio-maxima!"

The corridor was once again filled with flames, only this time the people in the middle couldn't cast any type of defence against it. The twins were forced to hide from the roaring inferno and winced as they listened to the screams that came from the corridor.

Bellatrix had finally gotten what she wanted from Harry the flames doing in seconds what the cruciatus hadn't; "NO! NO! NOT HERMIONE! NOT HERMIONE! HELP! SOMEONE HELP HER! PLEASE! HELP HER PLEASE ANYONE!"

Bellatrix cackled as she used the distraction to slip away.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione woke up in pain. It took her only a few seconds to recall the fight outside the common room, then watching as Harry was touched again and again, then losing sight of him in the flames before she had passed out.

She looked around for Harry, only to find she was curtained off in the Hospital Wing. She jumped out of bed, intending to go looking for her boyfriend, only to suddenly find that she was naked.

Well, not entirely naked, her right side was covered in a thick orange paste that was lavished over most of her burns. She started rummaging through the small cupboard next to her hospital bed looking for something to wear. She found the clothes she had been wearing that day with Harry. The tight jeans and pink jumper wouldn't have been the best thing for her to wear over her burns, but that point was mute anyway as her clothes were completely ruined and unwearable.

"Miss Granger! What are you doing out of bed?" Hermione whirled around to find Madam Pomfrey, who had just stepped through the curtain, "Get back in bed right now so I can finish applying the burn paste to your injuries."

Hermione complied with the school nurse, gingerly getting back on the bed as gently as possible to try and avoid irritating the burns. She wasn't completely successful, wincing more than a few times, "Where's Harry? Is he-AH!" Hermione gasped as Madam Pomfrey applied a glob of paste to her shoulder, the cooling effect of it shocking her sensitive skin, "How Is Harry? Is he going to be ok?"

"He hasn't woken yet...Thank Merlin..." that last bit was added under her breath, but Hermione's cat ears heard it anyway, "He has a lot of burns. The longer the burn paste has to work before he wakes up, the less it will hurt."

Hermione nodded, her injuries were painful enough, and Harry had been right in the _middle _of the fire. She choked back a sob as her mind played back the scene of the fire; Harry screaming in desperation as the fire tried to eat away at him, but he wasn't screaming in pain. No, he was screaming for someone to help _her_. Not himself, even though the pain he was in must have been maddening, and his injuries must've been worse than Hermione's.

Maddening pain, that phrase struck another memory in her.

Bellatrix and that awful spell. What if Harry was like the Longbottom's? That spell, it was the same one Neville had described, she was sure of it. What if her Harry was gone, driven to madness by that crazy witch?

The idea that Harry could be like Neville's parents, who he had said had lost their minds, was more than enough to bring her to tears.

"She-she k-kept hitting Harry with a c-c-curse..." she tried to keep her voice steady, but the fear of losing Harry overwhelmed her, "Cr-crucio...she kept h-hitting him with it because Harry...he-he wouldn't scream." Hermione was too panicked to be coherent after that, sobbing uncontrollably.

Madam Pomfrey went pale as she listened to the distraught girl, "My God…She used that. On Mr Potter?" She quickly finished applying the burn paste to Hermione's burns and gave her one of the largest hospital gowns, "I know it's big but it will keep it from pressing on the burns too much," Hermione nodded, still unable to talk around her sobbing. Madam Pomfrey gave her an affectionate, but soft, pat on the back, "I will go check on Mr Potter, you get dressed and get some rest."

Hermione watched the nurse leave to go check on Harry through her blurry tears. She slipped on the hospital gown, grimacing in discomfort as the fabric brushed against her burns.

Then she waited. She waited for as long as she could, but the panic was like one of Hagrid's Hippogriffs sitting on her chest.

She had to see Harry. She couldn't just sit there with the thought that he could be dying, or losing his mind. She got up and parted the curtains around her bed. The hospital wing was empty except for the bed next to hers, that also had its curtains closed. Figuring that it had to be Harry, she quietly opened the curtains and stepped in.

She wished she hadn't. She was right that this was Harry's bed, but she never wanted to see him like this, in what surely was an immense amount of pain. He was covered in burns and the same burn paste that Madam Pomfrey had used on her had been used on him, though in larger amounts and more frequently.

It almost looked as though someone had just poured a cauldron of the stuff on Harry. He was also completely naked, even if the thick layering of paste was doing a completely adequate job of preserving his modesty.

She moved the chair next to the bed from Harry's left to his right side, so that she could sit with her unburned side facing Harry, with her back to his lower half. She took his hand, one of the few places without burns, and just held it and waited.

When Madam Pomfrey returned she found Hermione sat with Harry, she tried to send her back to her own bed but Hermione pretended not to hear. She could have forced the issue but doing so wasn't worth it so she conjured a thin sheet for Harry's lower half before continuing to treat him.

"A pain-relieving potion number six. That should allow him to sleep through the worst of it," Madam Pomfrey told Hermione. The girl would be calmer if she was told what was going on. She also placed a different potion in front of Hermione, "Pain reliever four, for when you feel like you can sleep." Madam Pomfrey wasn't sure but thought she saw Hermione nod just a little.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione heard voices. It took her a few seconds to recognise them. It was Professors Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore talking with Madam Pomfrey. It sounded like they were talking just outside the hospital wing. Out of hearing range for most people, but her cat ears made them as clear as if they were on the other side of the curtain.

"How are Harry and Miss Granger?" asked a voice that was undoubtedly Dumbledore.

"Miss Granger is in fairly good shape, considering she has second and third-degree burns on her right side and front. I also found evidence she was hit with an improperly cast killing curse," the Professors all swore and muttered angrily at that, and, unseen by them, Hermione went pale as the thought that she could've died racked her brain, "She is understandably worried about Mr Potter, but as long as he recovers she should be fine in the long term, but will probably have night terrors for a while."

"Mr Potter is in a somewhat worse condition. 3rd degree burns to almost seventy percent of his body. A mild case of magical exhaustion and..." Madam Pomfrey paused for a second, "...he was tortured. With the Cruciatus curse."

All of the Professors gasped, "Oh my God," Professor McGonagall's Scottish accent came through very strong, as it often did if she was emotional.

"All we can do is wait to see how Mr Potter reacts when he wakes up," Madam Pomfrey finished her analysis.

"Never tell them I said this, but the Weasley twins didn't completely balls it up," Professor Snape quickly added, like he was disgusted that he had to praise a Gryffindor, let alone a Weasley, "And they said _while in the fire_, Potter was screaming about Granger. If he was doing that _after_ being subject to Bella's ministrations, I doubt his mind is broken."

Hermione relaxed after hearing that. That had been what she feared the most; that her Harry would be gone, leaving behind only a shell of himself.

"What did you do with the Gryffindor students? Surely they couldn't stay in their common room?" Madam Pomfrey enquired.

"We moved all students to the Great Hall. Better to keep them all together, so that we can keep an eye on them easier," replied McGonagall.

"Any sign of LeStrange?" Hermione gripped Harry's hand tighter. Surely she couldn't still be in the castle?

"The whole castle has been searched. And while Hogwarts holds many secrets, I think she has escaped," Professor Dumbledore said.

"Escape would be my guess as well Headmaster, she is not one to hide in some hidden room. Especially not after spending the last decade in a cell. But she also isn't one to give up so easily. She will try again almost certainly..." As they talked their voices got quieter as if they were moving away from the Hospital Wing.

"I agree, Severus…" Dumbledore said more but Hermione couldn't hear it well enough to make out.

She looked at Harry, it had been hours since she started sitting with him. She tried to compare how he looked now with her memory of how he looked when she first saw him, after the encounter with Bellatrix. Harry was still in a horrible condition, but she thought his burns looked a bit better. She suddenly felt exhausted; with the worry that Harry would end up losing his mind lessening and seeing that his wounds were healing, she didn't have the will to keep fighting off her fatigue.

Hermione collected the pillow from her bed and considered the blanket too, but her side was still too tender. She set the pillow on the edge of Harry's bed and got herself comfortable in her chair, finally taking her pain reliever that had been set on the table hours before. She put her head on her pillow and retook Harry's hand in hers.

Just before she fell asleep she noticed a slight tingle where her skin touched Harry's. It was kinda nice.

**Author's Notes**

Fun fact I burned myself on a cooking pot as i wrote this chapter. It's like the universe decided to punish me for putting Harry and Hermione through that. I have had second dree burns when i was younger and i can confirm it hurts like a bitch. The oversized gown was from my own experience as while i recovered i had to wear my father's clothes because they didn't hurt as much


	20. Chapter 20 - Aftermath

ok wow guys over 200 people are now following this fic that's just amazing to me.

loverofbooks asked:- would Hermione's change make her have several babies at once (like a litter of kittens) or is that part normal?

As for Hermione's pregnancy potential, I had decided a few things such as whether the kids would have cat ears. (Not saying if they will here, it's a plot point in a few years.) But I hadn't considered if her change would affect the number of eggs she would release in a cycle until you asked

Now that you have asked however I would say split the difference. Hermione has a 50% chance of getting pregnant with non-identical twins.

Midnight Angels asked:- Where. Is. Sirius?

Azkaban

please please keep the comments and review's coming i love reading them all. now for what you are here for-

**Chapter 20 - Aftermath**

**Monday 1st November**

Harry and Hermione were sat in the hospital wing waiting. Just waiting. There had been a little excitement when Harry woke up, even though he had been confused and well, _high, _when he finally woke up. Hermione had panicked once again, unable to stop thinking that Harry's mind had been damaged permanently by Bellatrix. She had rushed off to get Madam Pomfrey, only for the mediwitch to explain to the frantic girl that being dazed and confused was a side effect of the strong pain relief potion she had given him while he slept.

In his intoxicated state, Harry had found Hermione's fretting funny, but now that his head was clear he understood why she wasn't talking to him. She had been worried sick about him, and he had laughed at her. He knew he was going to apologize to her, even if he didn't think it was his fault.

Even if she was angry with him, Hermione hadn't left the chair next to his bed all morning, save to retreat behind the curtains of her own bed, once to be examined by Madam Pomfrey, and again while Harry was examined. Harry blushed at the memory of his examination; his burns were extensive and left little room for modesty.

"Hermione." He waited for her to look at him, and while it took a few moments, she did eventually lift her gaze to meet his own, "About earlier...the way I was when I woke up..." he took a deep breath, "I'm sorry."

Hermione looked at him with a scrutinizing look, "I-it wasn't your fault Harry, you don't need to apologize."

Harry did secretly agree with that, but knew it wasn't that simple; if Hermione was hurting because of him, he had to apologize, "You're upset 'Mione, it doesn't matter if it's Bellatrix's fault, the potions fault, my fault, or all three. I just want you to feel better. I would hug you, but well...right now it would be a bit of a pain."

Hermione giggled a little, then started crying a little. Harry wished he could hug her, but although the burn paste had done a lot, he was still covered in what Madam Pomfrey had called first and second-degree burns, rather than the third-degree ones he had come in with.

"I was s-so worried. S-she used that spell on you...the one she used on Neville's parents. I was so scared that you would end up like them. T-then when you woke up, y-you...weren't _you_. A-and you were _laughing _about it."

Harry grabbed her hand and held it tight, "I'm Ok 'Mione," he saw her looking at his burns through her teary eyes, "well, _mostly_. But I will be fine". He paused for a few moments, before adding, "Ok, maybe not _straight _away, but I will be fine. I'm more worried about you."

She looked at him, shocked by his admission, "Why on Earth would you be _more_ worried about me?"

Harry examined the burns on his arm as he answered, "You were hit by that weird green spell, and then I couldn't see you in those flames. I was terrified. I-I thought I would lose the most important person in my life."

Hermione winced slightly when Harry mentioned that green spell, but he didn't seem to notice. She had to fight the urge to throw her arms around him, when he said that she was the most important person in his life. At first, she couldn't understand it; yes, they had been dating for ten months, but they were still in school, surely there had to be someone more important to Harry than her. She tried to think of someone, but it dawned on her that for Harry there was no one competing for that position.

"Oh, Harry. You're fairly important to me as well," she pressed a light kiss on his cheek in one of his few unburned spots.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

They sat there for hours waiting for the burn paste finish its work healing their skin. They hadn't had any visitors yet, which was as much a blessing as a curse. Without visitors, they hadn't been able to talk to anyone to take their mind off the waiting or even to ask to bring them a book. But then, no one had seen them either. While Hermione was able to wear an overly-large hospital gown, Madam Pomfrey had strongly recommended Harry wait before putting the one she had tried giving him on.

Hermione, upon hearing it was better to wait, had taken the gown off Harry and promptly sat on it.

"And just what am I to wear if you are sitting on my clothes?" asked Harry, as soon as Madam Pomfrey had left.

Hermione looked him up and down, a slightly suggestive look on her face, "How about a smile?"

Harry blushed. He knew Hermione was joking. With burns, burn paste and nothing but a paste-soden sheet that stuck to him like a second skin in some places, he must have looked a right state.

Hermione giggled, "You should see the look on your face Harry. You're as red as a tomato."

Despite his embarrassment, Harry grinned, "That's the burns Hermione, I look like a lobster someone dropped in a barbecue."

Hermione bit her lower lip for a moment; she wanted to keep teasing Harry but she didn't know how far to go. She had never done anything like this before...heck, she'd never been in a relationship before.

Then she smiled; maybe it was time to turn it up a notch, "You still look good enough to eat."

If Hermione thought he was blushing before, that was nothing compared to now. She was just about to call it a win when Harry stuttered, "P-professor McGonagall...I, um..._we_..." Hermione turned as red as Harry upon hearing those words. She heard the Professor chuckle from behind her;

"Calm down Mr Potter, you and Miss Granger are not the first students I have walked in on while they were flirting, nor will you be the last, I'm sure. You aren't the worst I've seen either..."

Hermione's blush deepened as red as Harry's as she understood the meaning of those words. She got out up from her chair and turned to face her Head of House, "Sorry profess-"

"Like I said, Miss Granger, you aren't the first, nor will you be the last. After yesterday, it's good to see the two of you can smile again already," that last sentence turned the mood slightly sour. McGonagall noticed the change and continued on quickly, "sorry to bring that up, but I just got a floo call from someone at the DMLE, they want to know if you two are ready for an interview. They want the details of what happened last night."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, silently deciding what to do together, "It might be best Professor if they wait till tomorrow," Hermione replied after a moment, "Harry will at least be able to wear some clothes then."

Professor McGonagall nodded her approval, "I think you are right Miss Granger, and I'm sure Poppy, that's Madam Pomfrey to you two, would agree with you. I shall check with her then inform the DMLE. Now that that is taken care of, I would like to see how are the two of you are doing."

"Not too bad considering what happened. The burn paste is working and the pain relief potions help a lot..." Hermione's eyes flicked to Harry as she paused. She said the next sentence noticeably quieter, "...as long as you're not late taking the next one."

Both Harry and Professor McGonagall winced. The Professor had seen it before; a late pain potion leaving some poor sod to feel the full force of their injuries. It was common enough during the blood war when occasionally potions needed rationing, and when demand exceeded supply.

Harry, however, was remembering a few hours earlier, when he had missed the time for his next potion by ten minutes. He'd only been in pain a few minutes and it wasn't as bad as having Bellatrix cursing him, but it wasn't an experience he was looking to repeat.

"There is one thing Professor..." Hermione tried to not sound too desperate, "is there any chance you could get a couple of books from my trunk? It just it's… well, the-"

"What Hermione is trying to say is that she will go into withdrawal soon if she doesn't have something to read," Harry 'finished' Hermione's sentence for her.

Hermione glared at Harry, but he could tell that she didn't really mean it. Professor McGonagall was restraining a laugh, even as she smirked at Harry's comment. After a few moments, Professor McGonagall managed to regain her composure, "And how many books would 'a couple' mean Miss Granger?"

Hermione bent down to search for the right trunk key through her burnt clothes, muttering something unintelligible. McGonagall asked her to repeat, and Hermione straightened up, key in hand, and a fierce blush on her cheeks. "Maybe...uh...f-fifteen books, Professor…"

Harry openly laughed at this, causing Hermione to glare at him once again. Professor McGonagall remained mostly impassive once again, though there was amusement glinting in her eyes, "Very well, Miss Granger. I will bring them up in a moment."

Harry stopped laughing long enough to ask McGonagall, "What about tomorrow's Quidditch game Professor? I doubt I will even be allowed to see the game let alone play in it."

"The game has already been rescheduled for Saturday. If you are not cleared to play by then, then the Ravenclaw team will play Hufflepuff. Madam Hooch already gave an extension to Slytherin for a scratch, she wouldn't treat Gryffindor any different.

After that Professor McGonagall left and the books Hermione requested soon turned up. She took great delight in reading to Harry this time. He had tried to read to her again but as his right hand was burned and covered in burn paste it was making it hard for him to both hold the book and turn the pages, so Hermione had grabbed the book 'Ruby in the Smoke' and started reading.

"_The Seven Blessings. ON A COLD, FRETFUL AFTERNOON IN EARLY OCTOBER 1872, a hanson cab drew up outside the offices of Lockhart and Selby, shipping agents_," Hermione had already started the book but had gone back to the beginning just for Harry. At first, the book hadn't sounded too interesting to Harry, and he was content to just listen to Hermione, but as the story went on Harry found himself enjoying the tale more and more.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Tuesday 2nd November**

Hermione woke up that morning lying next to Harry in his bed. Madam Pomfrey's prediction regarding night terrors had unfortunately been accurate. Hermione tried to sleep in her own bed, however, she was plagued by her memories and fears as she fitfully slept. After waking 3 times in under an hour, each time having to check on Harry to calm herself, in the end, Harry had just made room for her in his bed. It wasn't the first time they had slept so close together, but it was the first time it was by choice and not the result of the two of them falling asleep on the sofa together.

Sharing a bed seemed to work well. They hadn't been able to cuddle up because of their burns but just holding onto Harry's unburned arm had been enough to comfort Hermione so that she could get some sleep. She still woke up a few times, but with Harry being right there she was a lot calmer each time.

Harry was still asleep so Hermione took the opportunity to look at their burns. Hers were looking a lot better, in fact, she thought she might be burn free by the end of the day. Harry's burns weren't as healed as hers, but she thought that they were about as good as hers were yesterday. If that were true then they might both be completely healed by tomorrow. At least physically.

She thought about her nightmares from the night before, and she knew she wouldn't be completely Ok for a while. She looked at Harry, who was sleeping peacefully, a bit of drool from the corner of his mouth mixing with the dried out, burn paste on his cheek, and wondered how he managed to sleep so well, so soundly.

She got out of the bed, grimacing from the weird feeling of her skin cracking and peeling as she moved. When she looked most of the burn paste on her body had dried as well and the cracking and peeling was luckily the paste. After checking with Madam Pomfrey, Hermione was sent to grab a cold shower. She chuckled to herself about needing a cold shower after spending the night in her boyfriend's bed, but it having nothing to do with her being hot and bothered.

Well...almost nothing.

Harry woke up while Hermione was in the shower and quickly discovered a few things; dry burn paste flakes in your hospital bed are itchy as hell, Hermione wasn't there with him, and his last batch of pain potion had worn off. It wasn't as anywhere near the level of pain from the day before, it was, however, still bad enough that he would avoid it if he could.

He wanted to go and find Madam Pomfrey but had a problem, he still didn't have anything to wear. Apart from one of his socks and his wand holster, all the clothes he had been wearing had been completely destroyed. He also hadn't been given a hospital gown yet, as up until now it would have been impossible to wear one. Only a thin, light sheet laid over his lower half had preserved a little of his dignity.

Eventually, he called for Madam Pomfrey, who insisted on examining his burns before giving him a pain potion. Harry thought this to be a little harsh but soon understood, even if he wished he hadn't. Madam Pomfrey's 'examination' included her poking at the burns in a few places while asking him how much it hurt.

"Why do you need to do this!?" Harry half-shouted after Madam Pomfrey pressed on a particularly sensitive burn, causing a sharp stinging pain to flare up.

The mediwitch looked at his face for a moment before returning to her examination, just as Harry thought she wasn't going to give him an answer she spoke, "Your burns destroyed a lot of the nerve endings in your skin. Almost all of them, in fact. The burn paste should restore them within your skin, but sometimes it doesn't work as well as it should. I'm checking to see if additional nerve restoration treatment is needed. So, as unpleasant as it is, the pain is a good thing."

Knowing why Madam Pomfrey was poking him didn't make the experience any more pleasant, but it did help Harry deal with it.

"Well Mr Potter, it seems you gotten lucky; your nerves are regenerating nicely," she got up from where she had crouched down next to Harry's bed. "I don't feel so lucky," Harry groaned in response.

"Yes, yes," Madam Pomfrey said, "I will get you a potion in a moment, then you can go and have a shower once Miss Granger is back. Keep the water cool; hot water will irritate your burns." She bustled off and came back with a potion and two oversized gowns. When Harry looked at the two gowns, confused, Madam Pomfrey explained, "one to wear on your way to the shower and one for after, the one you wear before the shower will be full of dried bits of burn paste." Harry nodded.

Madam Pomfrey left him alone, and the first thing he did was take the potion, as it would take a few minutes for it to start working. He then climbed out of bed for the first time since he woke up in the wing yesterday. It felt good to stretch his limbs out, even though it pulled on his burned skin. The dried paste flaked off faster than before, dusting the floor beneath him, leaving an absolute mess of flakes and dead skin.

Harry threw on his gown and started looking through his belongings, where he found his wand. Both Harry and Hermione had been lucky that Bellatrix had sent their wands down the corridor during the duel, it had saved them from the fire. He flicked his wand at the mess so that it would be swept into a pile, but only about a third of mess moved, and what did move only moved about halfway before it stopped. He tried again with similar results, only this time he felt like he had run a mile.

Harry tried not to panic but it was hard. He loved magic and it was hard to not think of nightmare scenarios of having his wand snapped and being kicked out of Hogwarts; there was no place there for someone who couldn't do magic. It was as if an invisible weight was pressing on his chest and throat, like they were swelling, making it hard to breathe, and he had to fight to keep the potion he had just taken in his stomach.

Hermione returned 10 minutes later, feeling infinitely better now that the shower had washed away the dried burn paste, dead skin and two days worth of sweat and dirt. Her mood suddenly shifted when she saw Harry. He was sat on the floor next to his bed, hyperventilating as he tried, again and again, to cast a spell with his wand.

Hermione ran over to Harry, before calling for Madam Pomfrey. At first, she just looked at him in indecision, unsure what to do. She sat down next to him and put her hand over Harry's, gently pushing his wand down. "Harry." He didn't respond to her, so she tried again, "Harry, hey, what happened?" She put her arm around him and pulled him against her side, hiding a wince as he leant against her still tender skin.

"My magic is gone," his voice was almost a whisper, devoid of all happiness, "How can I be a wizard without my magic? I'll lose everything."

Hermione didn't know what she could say to that, "Harry, you'll be Ok. I'm sure of it."

Madam Pomfrey had come over by then and had immediately taken control of the situation, "Mr Potter you are having a panic attack. I need you to drink this," she pressed a vile into Harry's hand. He drank it down and his demeanour changed almost immediately. Whereas he had been in the throes of a panic attack before, he now had a calm, almost dazed, expression. Hermione took the empty vile from Harry and read the label; 'Calming Draught'.

Madam Pomfrey took Harry's hand and pulled him softly to his feet, "Mr Potter, Miss Granger is correct. Your magic will be fine in a few days. You over exerted yourself the other night and strained the connection to your magic, it just needs time to heal. It's a condition called Magical Exhaustion."

Hermione's eyes widened with recognition, "He had a case of Magical Exhaustion over the summer. They said trying to do magic could...um…' damage Harry's magical potential.'"

"Yes Miss Granger, it can."

"Harry was trying to do magic when I found him...i-is he going to be Ok?"

"He should be fine, the chances of permanent damage are very low, but I will need to check nevertheless. On the bed Mr Potter."

Harry, who had barely reacted at all since taking the calming draught, climbed onto the bed and laid down. Madam Pomfrey started casting diagnostic spells over him. Balls of light, all different colours and sizes, began popping in and out of existence above him. Hermione didn't understand it at all, but Madam Pomfrey evidently did, and Hermione trusted her. As she examined more and more of the lights, the mediwitch's expression grew harder and more concerned. Hermione was terrified that it was bad news.

"H-how bad is it?" Hermione's fear was evident in her voice.

Madam Pomfrey cancelled the diagnostic spells, before she just stood there for a few seconds. She then visibly shook herself before speaking to Hermione, "I'm sorry Miss Granger, did you say something?"

"How bad is it? Will Harry be ok?"

"He will be just fine in time. A little damage to his magic, but nothing permanent, he will be about 5% weaker in terms of the power of his spells, but this will only be for three to five weeks. He will make a full recovery, as long as he doesn't do any more magic till Friday. That will stop him doing any more damage."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, then took Harry's wand from him.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**That same day, 5 PM**

Harry shivered as a draft of light reminded him that he and Hermione were only wearing hospital gowns and bathrobes. They were sat in Madam Pomfrey's office with Professor McGonagall waiting for the DMLE representative. Harry's head had cleared from the calming draught a few hours ago. The diagnosis of Magical Exhaustion and knowing that his magic would be fine in time had helped him remain calm. He wasn't all too pleased that he would be weaker for around a month, but he would much rather that than becoming a squib and being forced to leave Hogwarts. Hogwarts was his first home, he didn't want to lose it.

The thing that had really scared Harry though was the thought of losing Hermione. Not suddenly, like he feared during the duel with LeStrange, but slowly, as Hermione would spend more and more time among wizards who would understand her better than he would. That had scared Harry far more than he was ready to admit. Harry's musings were interrupted by a knock at the door. The door opened to reveal two women, one had pink hair and looked fairly young, and the other was Director Bones, who he'd already had an interview with over the summer.

"Good afternoon Professor," she nodded to McGonagall before turning to Harry and Hermione, "good afternoon Mr Potter, Miss Granger. I am Director Bones, and my assistant here is trainee Auror, Nymphadora Tonks." Nymphadora winced as if someone had insulted her.

Harry's heart was suddenly in his throat. Director Bones had introduced herself as if she had never met him or Hermione before. Harry was just wondering how to deal with that when Hermione beat him to it;

"It a pleasure to see you again director Bones. How have you been?"

At Hermione's words, the Director looked puzzled, "We have met before? Forgive me, I meet so many people in this job it's hard to keep track." Her words were polite but her eyes flicked to the ears on Hermione's head, the unspoken message was clear: 'I'm sure I would remember meeting someone with ears as distinctive as them.'

Harry jumped in, "We met on the 1st of August, and again on the 2nd. You uh..." Harry's eyes flickered to Nymphadora, "...uh, helped me with a case."

At the mention of the dates both Director Bones and Auror Tonks' eyes went wide, "I will need to speak with you about that after our interview. As was widely reported, I was hit with a memory altering charm on the second and I'm still piecing together the few days before. Now let's get started, shall we? Tonks, please set up the Dictaquill."

The Director took one of the chairs and sat down. She asked if they knew how the Dictaquill worked, and after Hermione said she didn't Bones had Tonks explain it. Once everything was set up Director Bones started;

"I am Director Amelia Bones, representing the DMLE in the interview of witnesses Harry James Potter and Hermione Jean Granger, in the ongoing investigation of the escape of Bellatrix LeStrange."

The Director then gestured to Tonks, "Trainee Auror Nymphadora Tonks, observing."

Then Harry, "Harry James Potter, witness."

"Hermione Jean Granger, witness."

"Minerva McGonagall, deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, acting In loco parentis*."

Director Bones then started speaking again, "Ok let's start with a description of the event from your point of view. What exactly happened on the 31st of October?"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other to see who would start off. Hermione nodded her head, indicating that Harry should, "Well..um…the 31st is Halloween, but as you probably know, it's the anniversary of when…when my parents were... you know... killed. So...I don't really like Halloween. All the fun just feels wrong to me. So Hermione and me just went off to a quiet part of the castle for the day, just to avoid everyone and look at a few photos-"

Harry's eyes went wide as he remembered his beloved photo album, "-Wait, my photos! Professor, did my photos survive the fire!?" Harry was really worried now that he remembered he had been carrying the book with him.

Your photos are fine Mr Potter, but the album is a little Singe, you were lucky that there was an Impervious charm active on the book, else you would have lost it. It's in my office at the moment while I undo the damage caused by the fire."

Harry felt a sudden welling of gratitude for his Professor and his girlfriend, "Thank you, Professor, and thank you, Hermione, for putting the Impervious charm on it. I would be devastated if I lost them," now that he knew his precious photo album was safe, he was able to continue his narrative with clarity, "Anyway, it was getting late so Hermione and I were headed back to the common room. We wanted to get back before everyone returned from the Halloween feast. I didn't want to deal with the crowds, but when we reached the common room the portrait of the fat lady had already been destroyed and the way into the common room was wide open. Then LeStrange stepped out and…"

Harry and Hermione described the fight in as much detail as they could remember, "...then the twins...uh I mean, Fred and George Weasley, turned up and saved us. They got LeStrange cornered, she couldn't run, so she used a fire spell to distract, and most likely, kill us," Harry got a dark look in his eyes and he focused intently on one point, almost blocking everything else out, "She copied me. She copied me to hurt 'Mione. I stopped when she screamed...but she didn't. She just kept hurting us..." he trailed off as Hermione wrapped her arms around him, the two teens silently crying as they remembered the traumatic experience; crying from both the phantom pains that felt far to close to real, and the pain of being unable to save the other from that same suffering.

They were shaken out of their reminiscing by Auror Tonks, who'd they'd forgotten was there, "Director, can I officially request to be on the team that delivers my aunt to the dinner table."

Harry, Hermione and Director Bones all reacted to that question, but for different reasons. Bones spoke first, "enough of that Nymphadora, you will never refer to it as 'the dinner table' again, if you want to make full Auror."

Before Tonks could respond to her boss Harry angrily cut in, "you're related to that monster!?" He was almost shouting, but not quite.

Hermione's objection was along the same lines as Harry's, though it was somewhat more rational, "if you're related, how are you working this case? Isn't that a conflict of interest?"

Tonks held up her hands, "Ok, Ok, give me chance to answer. Me and my big mouth...Ok, easy one first. I'm sorry boss, it won't happen again."

Director Bones stonily replied, "see that it doesn't trainee, that detail is nothing to joke about."

Tonks snapped to attention, "YES MA'AM!" She then turned to Harry and Hermione, "I'm not actually working the case, I'm just shadowing the Director to learn how to do an investigation, only from the best. The only thing I can affect is my mark back at Brixton Auror Academy. And trust me, Bellatrix may be my aunt, but I wouldn't piss on her if she were on fire," Professor McGonagall coughed at Tonks, "Sorry, Professor. Now, for what may be the hardest one. Mr Potter…uh, sorry, Harry…" Harry frowned at her using his first name but let it go,

"You are related to Bellatrix as well."

She waited for Harry to react, but surprisingly he didn't, so she carried on, "My mother, Andromeda, has two sisters; Bellatrix LeStrange and Narcissa Malfoy. Their father, my grandfather, had two siblings, one was a woman called Dora Black. She married Charles Potter, and they were your father's parents."

Harry was stunned; he had family in the wizarding world. He started laughing, it was a light chuckle at first, but it soon grew into something almost manic. Hermione soon grew concerned, "Harry? What is it? What's so funny?"

"Don't you see it 'Mione? Careful what you wish for. I should have known better. After the Dursleys, I should have known better..." Hermione didn't know what Harry was thinking, but if it had anything to do with the Dursleys, it wasn't going to be good, "I always wished for family," Harry continued in his monologue, "someone who _wasn't _the Dursleys. Well I got my wish, didn't I? And that family, they want me dead," now he started crying into Hermione's shoulder, and he was no longer shaking from laughter, rather from wracking sobs, "Why does everyone related to me want to hurt me!? Am I really that terrible!?"

It took some time for Hermione to help him regain his composure, all while the three adults present looked on in varying states of surprise and disbelief. Once everything had calmed down Bones broke the silence;

"Harry, I have to ask. You said...everyone related to you wanted to hurt you. Have your family hurt you?"

Harry looked at his lap and Hermione was just considering whether she should jump in when he spoke, "Well...you wanted to ask about how we met at the start of August, and this is as good a time to talk about it as any. Perfect, in fact. Yes, my family..._no_, I won't call them _family_. The Dursleys hurt me, and on the 31st of July, my Birthday funnily enough, they hurt me so much, my magic snapped."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Author's notes**

Not a cliffhanger just

All the books I have had harry and Hermione read to each other are books i have read and liked myself. So if you haven't read one of them count it as a recommendation. I'm trying to keep it to books that were actually published before 1993

*The term in loco parentis, Latin for "in the place of a parent" refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the functions and responsibilities of a parent. Originally derived from English common law


	21. Chapter 21 - His worst and most precious

**Chapter 21 - His worst and most precious memory **

**Wednesday 3rd November**

Daniel Granger pushed his vacuum cleaner around the carpet in his living room, and he was pushing it in such a manner as though the carpet had done him a personal wrong. He was at home alone today while his wife covered a shift at their dental practice. So he was alone in the house when the doorbell rang;

He was a little surprised to see Director Bones, the very same one who had visited their house in the holidays, on his doorstep.

"Director Bones! This is an unexpected surprise. Please, come in. I doubt anything you are here to talk about is fit for the doorstep. Can I offer you a cup of tea?"

"That would be welcome, thank you," the Director accepted.

Daniel led the witch to the kitchen, then busied himself making the tea, "So what can I do for you today? Is this about Harry's case?"

Daniel almost wished he hadn't asked that last question. His daughter and his ward were attacked by an escaped convict, the head of the DMLE informed him that they had been so badly burned that even with the miraculous healing abilities the magical world had at their disposal, they were still in the hospital. He was comforted slightly by the fact that Director Bones' description of how they were during her interview; if they were out of bed and giving witness statements then they were well on the road to recovery.

However, the news of Director Bones' memory wipe, possibly not long after she had left this very home, had been rather disturbing, more so when he considered that all the paperwork she would have had about her side of the case seemed to have gone missing. And, the only reason that the convict had escaped was because the paper for the shift rotation at the wizard prison had also gone missing.

Daniel spent the next hour showing Bones the paperwork she had sent him and Emma and going over what Harry had said in his interview there the day after his birthday.

He thought about discussing his own investigations into the Dursley's but decided against it. Director Bones may not have much sway outside the Magical world, but she was still a cop. At least after a fashion. She probably wouldn't approve of his borderline illegal search of the papers on the Dursley's desk.

Now Daniel was on his own, again he had nothing to do but try and put how much he was worried out of his mind. But with his daughter and her boyfriend in hospital, and the fact that he would need to inform Emma when she got home, meant that he wasn't doing a very good job of putting his mind at ease.

As he put the vacuum cleaner away one thought he had struck him as particularly worrying. Had they taken Harry's papers while targeting the prison paperwork, or had they taken the prison paperwork while targeting Harry?

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Thursday 4th November**

Madam Pomfrey had finally let Harry and Hermione out of the hospital wing on Thursday afternoon and they were headed back to the common room, just like they had a few days ago, "God, I don't remember there being this many stars this time last week," Harry grumbled loudly, as the two battered teens struggled up Hogwarts numerous stairs.

"We spent a week in bed Harry, so of course our muscles atrophied. Trust me, my legs are feeling it as much as yours."

He looked at her quizzically, "Atro-_what!_?"

"Atro-_phied_ means that your muscles get weaker from lack of use," Hermione replied.

"Oh...I didn't know there was a word for that."

The pair of them reached the portrait hole to the Gryffindor common room. They went up to the portrait to say the required password, only to find that instead of the fat lady that usually guarded the entranceway, there was a portrait of a knight sat astride a small Pony, "Who goes there! Speak your name and Quest!"

Hermione looked at Harry, puzzled. He just shrugged his shoulders and gestured for her to speak, "Um...Harry and I want to get into the common room."

"So seek ye entry to the sacred halls I am sworn to protect? Then speak ye the words of peaceful intent or be prepared to duel to the death!"

Harry was more than a little confused at the attitude and speech of the portrait but spoke the password so he could get into the common room, putting down the heavy bag of Hermione's books he was carrying.

"You seek to hoodwink me!? naive well have at ye," the knight drew his sword and started to swing it about, as if he was trying to hit Harry through his portrait, "Fear not young maiden, I shall save you from this brigand! Umph," the knight tried to step forward and strike at Harry only to get caught in the pony's reins, causing him to fall forward, landing flat on his face. He immediately jumped back up and began attempting to attack Harry again, "You think you have bested me?! I fight on!"

During all this, Hermione and Harry stood there with a dumbfounded look on their faces, watching the knight until the portrait hole opened and Neville stepped out, "Harry, Hermione!" Neville threw his arms around the two of them, "I was so worried. You faced off against Bellatrix, and then Madam Pomfrey wasn't letting anyone visit you and I-I thought…" it was at his point Neville realised that he was half-strangling Harry and Hermione in their prolonged hug. He quickly disentangled his limbs from around the two of them, "Uh...sorry, I didn't mean…uh sorry," his face was bright red from the show of affection.

"It's Ok Nev, we get it. I was just as worried when Harry first woke up," Hermione comforted him.

Neville looked at them both. Harry could see he wanted to ask what Hermione meant but was afraid he already knew the answer. Neville was saved from having to decide when Harry and Hermione's return to the common room was spotted by the rest of Gryffindor house.

A cheer rang out from everyone in the common room as Harry and Hermione were pulled into the room and swamped by the rest of their housemates. As visitors had been kept away from them during their stay in the hospital wing there where a lot of rumours around what had happened.

Some said that Harry and Hermione had gone looking for LeStrange and that was why they weren't at dinner. Some had thought that LeStrange had kidnapped them earlier in the day, and that was why they weren't seen all day. Some thought that Harry had killed the crazy Azkaban escapee in one of the most epic duels of the ages. while some were surprised to see Harry and Hermione alive, having heard that they had burned to death.

Harry and Hermione were pressed into telling and retelling the story from their point of view over and over again. And while Harry considered his spell work in the duel amateurish and ineffective, but listening to their fellow lion's, you would think it was a contest to rival the legendary duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald.

They finally got a break when the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team walked through the portrait hole, and with them, the two people that Harry and Hermione considered the real heroes: Fred and George Weasley.

Hermione did something that she hadn't done for anyone except Harry and Neville for a long while. She ran up to the twins and threw her arms around them, hugging them both even though she was a lot smaller than the two of them, "Thankyouthankyouthankyou! Idon'tknowwhatwould'vehappenedifyouhadn'tcomewhenyoudid," she said this all very quickly and in one breath, her face getting redder and redder as she spoke.

The twins where a little taken aback to suddenly have a lot of bushy brown hair attacking them but they quickly realised who and what was happening.

"You need to calm down Hermione," the twin on Hermione's left said. She couldn't tell them apart so she didn't know who was talking.

"Yeah, my less intelligent brother here can't understand you when you talk so fast," grinned the other twin.

"And my less good looking brother is not used to pretty girls running up and hugging him." Hermione couldn't help but start laughing as the two twins bantered back and forth.

"I just wanted to say thank you. If the two of you hadn't come along when you did, I hate to think of how much worse it could have been," Hermione kept on thanking them.

Harry watched as his girlfriend gave the twins one of her bone-crushing hugs. Harry had had lighter hugs from Hagrid than some of the hugs Hermione could give. He didn't know how she pulled them off, she didn't appear like she would be that strong. He had considered asking her once or twice but was afraid to make her self-conscious. He really loved her hugs after all.

"Hermione is right guys, if the two of you had come along and pulled your hero routine, I'm not sure either of us would have survived. Thank you, you really saved our asses."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

_Hermione was watching Harry as LeStrange hit him again and again with that curse, that same bolt of light causing her boyfriend immense pain over and over. She heard Bellatrix's crazed voice, happily cackling as she inflicted this pain onto Harry, "This time, I don't care if you scream Potter. I'm just going to hurt you. Again, and again, and again. Hurt you until your little fragile mind breaks. Until your _nothing, _nothing_ _but a mindless shell of a person, just like the precious Longbottoms."_

"_Crucio!" She giggled as she watched Harry's body writhe in pain. But he was silent._

"_Crucio!" She began to laugh as his body spasmed and twitched involuntarily. And still, he did not scream._

"_CRUCIO!" She laughed maniacally, wholeheartedly, finding happiness and pleasure through Harry's pain. But his mouth was tightly shut. He did not scream, or cry, or beg for a release from the pain._

_Hermione was trying to get to him, but she couldn't move; she was frozen to the spot, forced to watch the torture of her boyfriend. There was nothing she could do, nothing but watch on in absolute horror as Harry was hit, again and again, taking the brunt of Bellatrix's rage and anger._

_She could feel her blood racing as she tried to move, tried to fight, tried to do anything to stop the crazy witch from hurting her Harry. Then she was suddenly plunged into darkness, a weight pressing down on her. She tried to shift it, she had to get to Harry, she had to save him before LeStrange killed him. Or worse, broke him. There wasn't a lot of time left._

"Hermione! Calm down!" she heard a voice speaking, to her, it seemed. It didn't matter. All that mattered was stopping Bellatrix, saving Harry, protecting him. She didn't have time to be calm, she had to get to her Harry.

"Hermione, you're having a nightmare. It's Ok, calm down!" Hermione then recognised the voice as Lily Moon, one of her dorm mates. But…Lily wasn't there when she and Harry were attacked.

"Lily? What?" Hermione was confused and frightened, she needed to find Harry, to hold him, to know that he was safe.

"It's just a nightmare, Hermione. Here, let me help you, you got yourself all tangled in your blankets." She suited action to her words and soon Hermione was sat on the side of her bed, not paying attention to her surroundings, her mind still focused on the thought that Harry was in danger. She blinked twice, before looking around, seeing the comforting and familiar environment of her dormitory, her panic fading, but still there. It was now joined by embarrassment as Hermione imagined that she must've been quite loud in her nightmare, "I-I'm sorry for waking you Lily, but thanks for waking me up."

Lilly shook her head, "You didn't wake me up, too much pumpkin juice before bed woke me. Also, don't be silly, after what happened you are entitled to a few bad dreams. Now, I need to go take care of the pumpkin juice, will you be OK till I get back?"

Hermione nodded, "I'll be fine, I just need to remake my bed."

With that Lily smiled warmly at Hermione and left to take care of her call of nature. Hermione straightened her sheets and blankets, she had made a right mess of them in her thrashing about just after she had awoken. By the time she was finished, Lily was back from the bathroom.

"Will you be OK now?"

Hermione gave the girl a small smile, "Yeah, I think I will be. Thanks again, Lily."

"No problem. You gonna try and get some more sleep?"

Hermione thought for a few seconds, then went and grabbed her bathrobe, "I just need to go check on Harry first. I know it's silly, but in my nightmare…"

Lily stopped her before she could recount what she'd seen, both in real life and in her nightmares, "I get it. Don't worry. Night, Hermione."

"Night, Lily" Lily gave Hermione a wave as she headed back to her own four-poster bed. Hermione slipped out of her dorm, her bare feet barely made any sound at all on the stone steps as she crept down to the common room.

The common room was empty as she crossed from the girls' staircase to the boys' once. The room was lit only by a few dying embers in the fireplace. At the sight of them, a shiver ran down Hermione's spine and the hairs on her tail stood on end, but she ignored it as she reached the steps that lead to Harry's dorm.

Her way up these stairs was just as quiet as the way down from hers, only this time her feet started to complain about her lack of slippers, the freezing stone slabs making her feet ache and tremble. She found the door to the room Harry shared with some of the third year boys and opened it as quickly as she could. As soon as the door was open Hermione wondered why she had bothered being quiet at all, with how loud the snoring was.

'And I thought Fay could snore,' Hermione thought to herself.

She made her way along the beds, most of them having their curtains drawn. Probably a defence against the chainsaw Ronald was running in his nose. Hermione couldn't see Harry amongst the beds with open curtains and wondered how she would find him. She didn't want to open the curtains at random, it would be an invasion of privacy, besides, she didn't know what she would see. She looked around for something of Harry's to indicate which bed was his. Her eyes fell on Harry's trunk at the foot of one of the beds.

When Hermione peeked through the curtain she found Harry. Her heart leapt as she saw him, judging by how restless he was, he was obviously having a nightmare of his own. She made up her mind, then she slipped past the curtain and out of her robe, letting it fall on the floor. She then crept into the bed next to him.

"Mione?" Harry hadn't awoken, not fully, so she just whispered to him, "Yes, Harry, it's me. It's OK, now go back to sleep."

Harry, who had spent the last few nights sharing a hospital bed with Hermione, just accepted it and went back to sleep, unconsciously shifting up to make room for her. She snuggled against Harry and they both slept a lot better for the rest of the night.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Saturday 6th November**

"_And here we have it folks, the opening game of the 1993-94 Hogwarts Inter-house Quidditch Cup._

_Opening for the Hufflepuff team we have Smith, Macavoy, and Applebee playing for the Quaffle, Fleet guarding the rings, Rickett and O'Flaherty are holding the bats, and last we have Hufflepuff's Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory._

_Will this be the team to take the Cup this year, or could it be the Lions of Gryffindor? We have Spinnet, Johnson and Bell, three of the best chasers Gryffindor has ever seen. We have Weasley and Weasley, the twins are almost like bludgers themselves, the way they shoot around the pitch. Guarding the rings against all comers, the Gryffindor's have Captain and Keeper Oliver Wood, and lastly, the Seeker who has never yet failed to catch the snitch in a game he's played in...the one the only Harry Potter!"_

Harry felt his gut clench as his name was called out, walking down onto the pitch with the rest of the team. He was more nervous about this game than any, since his first-ever Quidditch match. He had spent so much time in the Hospital Wing, and with homework and his magical exhaustion, he hadn't flown in over a week. He was really worried how the 5% change in his magical ability would affect his flying. On top of that, the conditions for the game were not great. In fact, they sucked for him. While the heavy rain from earlier in the week had disappeared, a heavy mist had settled over the area, and without bright light to glint off the snitch, it would be a lot harder for him to find the snitch.

The two teams met at the middle of the pitch, where Madam Hooch was waiting, "OK you lot, I want a clean game, Captains, shake hands." Wood and Diggory stepped forward. While Diggory shook hands with Wood, his eyes never left Harry, as Diggory sized him up for the match, just as Harry did the exact same with him. Diggory was tall and well built, better suited to be a Beater than a Seeker, in Harry's opinion.

"Everyone mount your brooms." The two teams of seven followed Madam Hooch's orders as she let out the snitch and bludgers. The three balls shot into the air, getting ready for the game to begin.

"Let's have fun everyone. Three, two, one!" The quaffle was up in the air and the game began. Harry started circling the pitch as he looked for the snitch, hoping for a lucky break so that he could end the game quickly, but he wasn't that lucky.

"_Bell takes the ball first. Smith tried to steal but Katie manages to keep position,_" Harry could hear Lee Jordan's commentary of the match, and he listened to it with idle interest as he searched for the snitch,

"_Bell makes her way down the pitch for an early shot at goal, but keeper Fleet manages to stop it. He passes the ball to Applebee, but the pass is intercepted by Spinnet. She tries to keep the ball and make her way to the scoring area...ooh! She's been hit by a bludger from Rickett, that looked like it hurt! Applebee catches up and takes the quaffle, she passes to Mcavoy. Mcavoy starts towards the Gryffindor end of the pitch, but is intercepted by Johnson. Johnson moves back to the Hufflepuff end of the pitch. She dodges a bludger by O'Flaherty, and Smith intercepts as she tries to pass to Spinnet. Smith passes to Mcavoy, who passes to Applebee. who tries to take on Wood. but wood saves. Smith picks up the loose quaffle and tries again for the goal but Wood is on rare form today. Wood passes to Spinnet, but it's intercepted by Mcavoy, who takes another shot at the right hoop," The Gryffindor stands went wild, "and that is the reason some say Wood is the best keeper Hogwarts has seen in years, fokes. Johnson accepts the pass from her Captain. Look at that girl fly. she dodges Applebe, Smith and that bludger. She takes a shot at the center hoop, and it's 10 - 0 to Gryffindor!"_

If the Gryffindor stands had been loud at Wood's save, they were practically deafening now as they chanted a mix of "Johnson", "Gryffindor" and "first blood."

"_Mcavoy picks up the quaffle on the restart, but soon loses it to Bell. Bell gets hit with a bludger and fumbles the ball, sorry I didn't see who hit it. Mcavoy picks up the lost quaffle and passes to Smith. Smith dodges a bludger from Weasley. Impossible to tell which one from here, but it let Spinnet catch up and steal the ball. Spinnet is in the scoring area, she shoots right, but it was a feint, and Fleet fell for it! It leaves the left hoop open, making the score 20 - 0 in favour of the Gryffindor team."_

The stands went wild again with more students joining in this time as people from other houses got caught up in the game, even though their houses weren't even represented. It was mostly Ravenclaws, but there were a few Slytherins who were known as Quidditch nuts as well.

"_Johnson takes the quaffle on the restart. Passes to Spinnet, who gets hit by a bludger from O'Flaherty. Mcavoy picks up the loose ball and avoids a tackle from Spinnet, who seems to have shaken off the effects of the bludger in record time. Mcavoy passes to Smith, and Smith tries to pass to Applebee, but Spinnet takes the quaffle in mid-flight."_

Harry realised he had spent the last few minutes watching the match and not searching for the snitch. He looked around and checked on Diggory. Luckily the Hufflepuff Seeker was still looking for the snitch and hadn't found it while Harry was distracted. Harry sped off and started circling the pitch, hoping against hope to see the small glint of gold that would indicate the snitch. However, the heavy fog kept him from finding his target. There were even some moments where all Harry could see was white, billowing fog and only gravity told him which way was down.

He began to lose track of the game, only the occasional snippets of Lee's commentary reaching him through the thick fog. "50-30 to' Gryf-" The thick blanket of fog absorbed the rest of Lee's commentary, but it seemed that Gryffindor was ahead. Suddenly, a bludger came out of nowhere, headed directly for Harry. He dove to avoid the bludger and narrowly avoided hitting one of the Weasley twins, who came out of the fog pursuing the ball.

"Hey Harry," either Fred or George swung his bat at the bludger, sending it back into the fog, "How you holding up?"

Harry changed course so that he was flying next to twin he thought might be George, "I'm fine, but don't count on me catching the snitch. I can barely see anything in this fog."

"Diggory is in the same boat. Just hope you get lucky or we could be out here for quite some time," with that the twin darted off after the bludger.

The game was turning into a long slog. From the commentary, Harry knew they were neck and neck, with only 30 points in it. It seemed that this was a game destined to be decided by the snitch. Harry had all but given up on finding the snitch and instead was marking Diggory, hoping that being small and speedy would let him win the chase. Diggory had faked seeing the snitch and gone into a dive twice, only to pull up again when he was close to the ground in an attempt to throw Harry off, but Harry had a sharper turn than Diggory, his smaller mass able to shift direction with less effort.

Diggery was off again and Harry was right on his tail. They went up and up, Diggory pushing his broom to its limit. Harry couldn't see the snitch and he briefly wondered if Diggory was faking again.

Harry heard screaming in the distance. A woman's voice. Had someone be hit with a bludger? But Harry had seen the snitch and his team was counting on him. He pushed more power into his broom, willing it to go faster. He was soon neck and neck with Diggory and was closing in on the snitch a bit faster than his rival seeker.

There was more screaming, "No! Please, no! I'll do anything, please!" What was he doing? He should be trying to help the woman who was screaming. But what could he do?

He was just a worthless freak. He couldn't save her.

There were shape moving in the mist. Lots of them. Too many for both Quidditch teams combined. Before Harry could decide what to do, one of the shapes came flying out of the fog and Harry was confronted with the black, tattered and rotten cloak of a Dementor.

"No! Please, no! I'll do anything, please! Not Harry! Not my Harry!" was what he heard in his ear.

Then he blacked out.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

_Harry was looking up at a red haired witch. He looked around the small sitting room they were in; it was decorated with some cheap muggle Halloween decorations, paper pumpkins and bats cut out with some orange and black streamers. _

"_It's getting late love," the voice came from somewhere behind the witch in front of Harry._

_The witch turned her attention back to him, "Is that so? Is it getting late? Is it time for my little pumpkin to go to bed?" The witch picked him up and started to carry Harry upstairs._

_They had gotten about halfway up when Harry heard that same man's voice again, this time a lot louder and a lot more panicked, "Son of a bitch! He betrayed us! Lily, run! It's him, I...I'll hold him off, keep Harry safe." Tears flooded the eyes of the red-haired witch as she started running up the stairs. They went through one of the three doors at the top of the stairs and found a nursery, the walls were blue with paintings of animals on them. The witch tried turning on the spot, as though that would do something._

_The witch then pulled open a cupboard and threw the stuff in it all over the floor, "Where is it? Where is it? Yes!" She pulled out an amulet and put it around her neck, then held Harry so that the amulet was sandwiched between them, "Mischief managed," nothing happened, "Mischief managed! Mischief managed! Son of a bitch," then the witch grabbed a broom leaning against the wall and tried to open the window, but it wouldn't budge, "Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!"_

_She reached into her pocket, looking for something else, "Dammit, i left my wand downstairs. Accio wand! Accio wand!" She waved her hand as though it was a wand. She was trying to summon her wand._

_There was a sound from downstairs, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" followed by a crash and a thump, then the sound of feet slowly coming up the stairs._

_The witch turned Harry to face her, and despite the tears flowing down her face she tried to remain calm, "Harry, pumpkin, whatever happens, I want you to remember something, OK? Can you be a big boy and do that for mummy? You need to remember, whatever happens, that mummy loves you. I need you to remember that. I need you to remember that I love you more than the whole world. And whatever happens, mummy will always be there for you, OK? I promise mommy will always be with you, no matter what happens. I love you, Harry."_

_The door to the room burst open and Harry's mummy dove into the corner of the room with Harry pressed right into the corner as she shielded him from the intruder. Harry tried to see what was happening but his mummy wouldn't let him._

"_Not even a wand...pathetic. Get out of the way girl."_

"No! Please, no! I'll do anything please! Not Harry! Not my Harry!"

"You're pathetic! You worthless mudblood, just get out of my way and I'll spare you."

"No, I'm begging you, please take me, kill me, but please leave Harry alone."

"Thrice I ask...get out of my way!"

Mommy tears were making Harry's pumpkin costume wet. His mummy pulled him close for the tightest hug she had ever given him, "thrice I say and done. No. I'm sorry Harry. Remember, mummy lo-" she never got to finish those last words. The man who had followed Harry and his mummy into Harry's room shouted "_AVADA KEDAVRA!" There was a lot of green light and his mummy had fallen down, silent and still._

_Harry was scared now, mummy wasn't moving. Harry gripped her top and started pulling on it, "Mummy. Mummy up. Mummy up." _

_The man looked down at Harry, "I wonder what was so special about you? No matter." Then he waved his wand and shouted that same spell again, _"_AVADA KEDAVRA!" _

_The green light hit Harry right above his left eye. It hurt more than anything little Harry had ever experienced, then the green light hit the wall behind the scary man and the wall exploded. There was a lot of noise and there was dust in the air. The scary man was screaming, but Harry was in too much pain to be worried about that._

_Harry began pulling on his mummy's top again. Between his tears, Harry was sounded like any toddler in pain, who just wanted his mother to make the pain go away, "__Owie, mummy owie, mummy up, owie, mummy owie. Mummy up. Harry wants up."_


	22. Chapter 22 - The weight of memory

AN: sorry about the late post guys honestly this chapter was like pulling teeth and i have no clue why. It would have been up erler today but my computer chair broke on me this morning. Which is just fantastic because I can't afford to replace it. Next character will probably be not this wednesday but the wednesday after that Once again my bata matty is amazing without him this fic wouldn't be half as good anyway enough of my problems here is

**Chapter 22**

**Sunday 7th November**

Harry woke up, fumbling around to find his glasses until he felt them on a bedside table. He settled them on his nose and looked around in the darkness; he was in the hospital wing again. He recognised the white sheets and curtains surrounding the bed from his previous visits. He tried to remember what had happened.

How had he got here this time? He remembered playing Quidditch...did he get hit by a bludger? He noticed a lump in the chair by his bed, and upon further inspection, he found that it was Hermione, asleep in the chair. Her periwinkle blue knitwear set was draped over the back of her chair, indicating to Harry that she hadn't been back to the common room.

There were a few other students in the other beds and he recognized a few of them, Susan Bones was in the bed next to his, and there was a blond girl that Harry thought was possibly a Ravenclaw. She definitely looked like she was from the year below him, anyway.

Why were they all here? He didn't think that the others had been hurt while playing, he didn't recognise any of them as Quidditch players.

He was so useless. How could he not remember why he was here?

He probably deserved it anyway. A fitting punishment for being a freak.

A part of Harry recognised those thoughts, those thoughts that never came to him normally, only whenever he was exposed to a Dementor. Just the thought of those thoughts was enough to jerk Harry's memory, and then the images and memories of what had happened came flooding back.

The game…

The Dementors…

That memory…

'_mummy loves you...mummy will always be there for you.' _

"Mummy", it was barely a whisper, but that one word was all it took to shatter Harry.

His mother's last words bounced around in his head '_mummy loves you_..._mummy will always be there for you', _they were words he had longed to hear all his life. He felt a kind of sad happiness, hearing those words from his mother, words that he had only imagined before now. He knew that his parents had loved him dearly, everyone said so, but to hear it from his mother…his mother that was now dead.

Now he remembered another image, the image of his mother, dead on the floor, and little Harry, trying to get her to wake up. He wanted to tell his memory self to just hold her, hold his mother for the last ever time.

The sadness he'd felt at Halloween was nothing compared to the raw grief he felt as those memories flashed through his head. The pain and emptiness was so much more real, and Harry lost the fight to stop it from overwhelming him. His eyes filled with tears as he curled up in a ball and wept.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione awoke to the sound of sobbing. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around, seeing Harry curled up, trembling and crying. He was in a ball on his hospital bed, more distraught than she had ever seen him. She drew the curtains around his bed so that he wouldn't attract the attention of the other patients and become a spectacle. The last thing he would want was to become the source of gossip yet again. She knew how much he hated that.

His privacy seen to, she climbed onto the bed next to him, gently pulling him so his head was resting on her shoulder. He didn't seem to notice or care that she had done that, and only kept weeping.

"It's Ok Harry, it's Ok. I'm here now", Hermione wanted to ask questions, but she knew Harry was in no state to answer them. Instead, she sat with him, comforting him with her presence and words, making the same calming and soothing sounds her mother used to do for her when she was upset.

Dawn broke before Harry had calmed enough to notice that he was sobbing into his girlfriend's shoulder. He didn't remember when she'd come and sat next to him, "'M-mione?"

"It's Ok Harry, I'm still here", she reassured him, but her curiosity still had its say, "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

Harry wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly as he whispered to her, "s-she told me...she _loved _me."

Hermione stiffened slightly. She knew Harry was very sensitive when it came to love, "Who? Who told you that she loved you, Harry?" She tried not to sound to commanding or pressing, but she couldn't help him if she didn't know.

Harry hadn't noticed Hermione's slight change, but answered the question nevertheless, "M-my mum. She said that. '_mummy loves you...' _The D-dementors, they made me remember."

Hermione was confused. That didn't sound very bad, not something a Dementor would make you remember, "I thought Dementors only made you remember bad stuff?"

"It _was _bad 'Mione. It was _horrible_. They made me remember that night. The night that Voldemort came for us. Or, more specifically, me", Hermione now understood why the Dementors had awakened a memory of his mother telling him that she loved him; it was his mother's last moments. Harry continued before Hermione could say anything, "Mum, she ran with me to my room. She tried to do something, I think it was to escape. I think she tried that apprating thing, but it didn't work. She tried a broom, but she couldn't open the window..."

Hermione could see where this story was going and she really didn't want to hear it, but Harry needed to get this out, he needed to share it with somebody, and she was glad that that person was her, "He was coming up the stairs. Then mum said, '_Harry, pumpkin, you need to remember, whatever happens, that mummy loves you. I need you to remember that. I need you to remember that.' _But...I didn't. It was all she wanted from me, to remember her love for me, but I couldn't remember her saying that to me."

Hermione's heart broke as Harry told her more and more of his memory. By the time Harry finished describing how he tried to wake his mum, she was openly sobbing with him. Every detail, from his mother's nickname of "pumpkin" for him, to Voldemort's offer of sparing Harry's mother if she gave him up, they were almost like a physical blow, each and every one. The worst came after, however, "That memory is _horrible, '_Mione, it hurts me to remember...but a part of me, it just wants to walk up to the Dementors, so I can see it again. Hearing her, my mother, saying she loves me, it's a dream come true. I've wished for it my entire life...and it was the last time anyone said that to me."

Hermione wanted to tell him that she loved him. She wanted him to know, she wanted everyone to know. She would gladly admit her love for Harry to anyone if they asked. Neither of them had said it to the other yet, it was a big thing to say to someone for the first time, even more so if it was your first relationship.

What held her back from saying it was that she didn't want Harry to remember the first time he heard words from her, the first time he had ever heard them from someone apart from his parents, with so much pain.

She didn't want him to think that she'd said them only to comfort him, she wanted him to know that she loved him, and when she said it to him, he would know she meant it. She tried to think of something to say that would help Harry, words that weren't those three particular words, but she couldn't think of anything that would truly comfort him. In the end, she threw her arms around him and pulled him tight against her, trying to show him with her actions what they both weren't ready to say.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Sometime later, Madam Pomfrey stuck her head through the curtains, "Is everything Ok? Why have you closed the curtains?" She eyed the teen couple suspiciously, but her expression shifted to one of concern when she noticed the tear stains on their cheeks and the raw redness around their eyes.

Hermione spoke up, "I'm the one who closed them. The Dementors brought up a hard memory for Harry. We needed a bit of privacy while he worked through it."

Madam Pomfrey nodded, "Ok, you two get yourselves cleaned up. Breakfast will be round in a few minutes", she waved her wand and a basin of lightly steaming water and a couple of washcloths and towels appeared floating next to the bed as she left. Harry was shocked for a few seconds as Hermione began pulling off her top, only to relax when all she had underneath was a pale blue vest that was under her jumper*. Harry was relieved, but also a little disappointed at the same time.

Unbeknownst to Harry, Hermione was congratulating herself in her head. Madam Pomfrey thinking that the curtains had been closed for another reason had given Hermione an idea. She _could_ get Harry's mind off his memory with a little teasing.

Not telling him that she was wearing a camisole under her jumper before she removed it would probably distract him. After all, she was _only_ doing it in order to wash. Seeing his face as she started pulling the jumper over her head had been highly amusing; he was staring red-faced with shock.

His panic began to subside as he saw the camisole underneath, and it was replaced with clear disappointment.

_Boys_, Hermione thought as she shook her head_, so easy to distract_. She gave her face and arms a quick wash with the cloth. It wasn't anywhere near as good or cleansing as a real shower, but she had skipped her nightly routine last night, too worried about Harry to do much more than sit there holding his hand as he was treated.

After so long without cleaning, even a quick wash like this made her feel alot better.

After about a minute of trying to pretend he wasn't staring at his girlfriend, Harry pulled off his shirt and joined her, though he washed his chest as well as his arms and face.

Hermione watched as the water ran over his skin. It was more than a little bit distracting, though it wasn't just the fact that her boyfriend was shirtless in front of her. She was also intrigued by the numerous scars adorning his body.

The scars from the dog bites stood out the most, they were still red and slightly angry, but they weren't the only ones. There was one inside his right elbow that Hermione presumed came from the Basilisk in their second year. There were thin lines and blotches on his hands, marks leftover from doing too many chores, some of which she thought must've been well in advance of his age. Then there were the most numerous long thin lines that crossed his torso, always in two parallel lines.

But it was the lean and surprisingly toned muscle that filled out his chest that held her most of her attention, making her slightly hot and bothered.

_Damn those cat hormones!_

Harry noticed Hermione looking at his scars and instinctively started to cover them as much as he could, "Sorry 'Mione, I know they're disgusting to look at. I'll cover them back up in a sec."

Hermione was quick to reassure him that that wasn't the case, "Harry, no, it's Ok, I don't mind them."

He didn't seem convinced though, "I-I know you hate them Hermione, It fine...I hate them too."

"Oh Harry, I don't hate them. I hate _how_ you got them", she picked up one of the towels and walked around the basin so she was next to him, "They're a part of you, so I could never hate them." She ran her hand over Harry's chest, her fingers lightly tracing his scars. She felt his skin tremble and heard his breathing hitch.

It was an exhilarating feeling, touching his skin, and she enjoyed it very much. Before she could distract herself too much, she brushed the towel over his chest, leaning closer so that she could lean against him without getting her top wet. After a few moments pause, she kissed him as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

She broke the kiss a few seconds later, "Now get dry and get your shirt on before Madam Pomfrey opens the curtains. She already thinks we're doing something inappropriate, and I'd rather not give her proof", she grabbed the other towel and quickly dried off her arms, neck and face, and then pulled her jumper back on. As her head went through the hold, she saw that Harry had done the same.

They waited for Madam Pomfrey to turn up with their breakfast, and they weren't disappointed. Less than 5 minutes after they'd gotten dressed, the nurse opened the curtain to hand them their plates of food. Hermione opened hers to find her usual breakfast of porridge with some sliced fruit, one blueberry muffin and a cup of hot chocolate, all steaming hot, having been preserved with some warming charms. Harry took his plate, which felt significantly heavier than Hermione's, and opened it to reveal a stacked breakfast of chocolate.

Everything in sight had some chocolate, either as a sauce, hard chunks or mixed in, there was a lot of chocolate. It made Harry a little queasy, he had never been the biggest fan of chocolate. Sure, he liked having a few bits of it every now and then, but the sheer volume of it in his breakfast made his stomach turn in circles. "You seriously expect me to eat all of this!?" He looked incredulously at his girlfriend, who looked unfazed and slightly amused at his task at hand. When he still hadn't started eating, she sighed before gesturing to the plate, "Harry, you know that if you're exposed to Dementors, the most common cure for it is eating chocolate."

Harry scoffed, shaking his head, "It's a little bit of an overkill, though! There is no way I'm eating all of this. Heck Hermione, you like chocolate more than me!"

"Harry, with the number of Dementors you were exposed to, you need to consume a lot more chocolate than the regular person. You should be happy, the other ways to cure you are a lot more painful and uncomfortable."

That made him pause for a second, "Wait...how many Dementors were there?"

"50 Dementors were there at the game. At least, that is what Dumbledore said", this came from Madam Pomfrey, who they'd both forgotten was still there, watching the two of them with unveiled amusement, "And you should listen to Miss Granger, she is correct. With the amount of Dementors there that day, you should be happy that all you have to do is eat a large meal of chocolate. Though, if you don't want that, there are other ways…"

"No, no, I'll eat the chocolate", Harry didn't want to find out these other ways. He reluctantly began to eat his meal, slowly at first, but soon increased in pace as the effects came over him. Earlier than Hermione had expected, Harry was finished, and was lying back in bed, holding an arm over his stomach. "Ugh, I think I ate too much…" he groaned. Hermione and Madam Pomfrey both laughed, while he rolled over and curled up on the other side of the bed.

"Well, I think I'll leave you two to it then. You should be able to be discharged, at the very latest, by this afternoon", with that, Madam Pomfrey headed out of the Hospital wing.

After the stomach ache had passed, Harry felt better almost immediately, and it seemed that Susan and the Ravenclaw girl had perked up as well, though Harry didn't know what they'd eaten for breakfast. Harry asked Hermione why she hadn't had any chocolate herself, apart from the usual amount she ate, and she replied that she had had some the previous evening. The four of them soon started talking. "So, does anyone know what happened with the Quidditch game? I was rather enjoying it, till the dementors turned up. I didn't care for the memories they showed me…" The blond Ravenclaw girl asked.

"That's a good question", said Harry. He avoided asking her about what her memories contained, as they were probably painful and personal. He sure knew that he wouldn't want anyone asking him about his memories, apart from Hermione, "Me and Diggory were neck and neck for the Snitch, last I remember. I was about to grab it, when...I think I blacked out..."

Hermione answered, "You passed out before you could catch it. Since you weren't conscious, you started falling from your broom. Cedric, I think his name is, he gave up on the Snitch and grabbed you, meaning that no one caught it. Madam Hooch called off the game and was going to call it a draw. Wood, however, wasn't having it."

Harry and Susan both groaned at the antics of the Quidditch-crazed Gryffindor. His obsession with the game almost rivaled McGonagall's. "I know it's Wood's last chance at the cup, but he really needs to calm down sometimes…" Harry moaned.

"Actually, Wood insisted on a Gryffindor forfeit. He insisted that Cedric deserved better than a draw for giving up on the Snitch and saving you", Hermione finished.

Susan, always a proud hufflepuff, cheered, "Way to go Cedric!" She then remembered why Hufflepuff had won that match, "Oh...I mean...sorry Harry, I-I'm just happy-"

"That hufflepuff won", he finished for her, "It's fine. I would be happy if it had been a Gryffindor win."

He turned to the Ravenclaw girl, "We haven't actually introduced ourselves. I'm Harry, nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you as well Harry. I am Luna. Luna Lovegood. Most people call me loony, but I don't like that very much", her voice had a far away, almost dreamy, quality to it.

"That's _horrible_. We won't call you that, will we Harry?" Hermione had never been a fan of bullying, especially after being on the end of Malfoy's since first-year.

"No, we definitely won't. I know what it's like to have a name people use that I hate."

"You don't like it when people call you 'the boy who lived'", Luna said it as a statement, not a question, "You don't like being reminded what that name cost you."

Harry was taken aback by her straight-forward and bold approach, "H-how did you know that?"

"It's quite simple really", she answered, her soft voice still as calm as if they were discussing the weather, "I don't like being reminded of my mother's death either. It makes me sad. I saw that same sad look in both of your eyes-" she indicated both Harry and Susan, "-before you ate the chocolate. Did the Dementors remind you of the past as well?" She was blunt and calm, but Harry suspected that was just the way Luna was.

It was Susan who answered first, "I-I was with my aunty again. It was the day...the day w-we learned that my parents were dead. _Murdered _by Death-eaters. I remember my aunt breaking down, but I didn't understand what happened, I-I just thought my parents had _left _me and gone away. I was so angry at them."

Harry was about to tell Susan and Luna what he had seen, emboldened and saddened by Susan's story. Luna spoke first though, her voice having emotion and losing it's dreamy quality for the first time since they'd met, "I was six when I watched my mum die. She was brewing a potion, but something went wrong. The cauldron exploded, and a chunk hit mummy in the back of the head", her voice suddenly got a lot quieter, "I-I was alone in the room with her for ages before daddy got home."

Hermione got up off Harry's bed where she had been sitting, walked over and pulled Luna into a hug. The girl went stiff for a few seconds, obviously uncomfortable and unused to the affection, before she relaxed into Hermione.

"What about you Harry? What did you remember?" Susan asked.

"I was back there. That night", that got Susan and Luna's attention, "dad tried to buy time for mum and me to escape", Harry paused for a moment. He sat there in silence for a second, before he started speaking again, "I-it didn't work. There was no way out. We could hear it as Voldemort killed dad." The two girls flinched at the name, but Hermione was used to Harry saying it and wasn't jumpy at the name, "Mum...said her goodbye to me. Then he came in, and I watched as he killed her. Then, Voldemort turned his wand on me."

The two didn't flinch as much this time, but still flinched nevertheless, "I can't explain what happened after that. It's all a jumble. All I know is that by the end I was hurting, and scared, and I just wanted my mum." Harry wondered if he had said too much. Luna and Susan were both looking at him with sadness in their eyes. After a few moments he realized those were the same looks he'd had given them after each had recounted their memories.

Attention turned to Hermione, who blushed, "I didn't collapse, I'm just here for Harry. I did remember something...but I can't tell you about it. It involves someone else's secrets. I don't have the right to reveal them. All I can say is that I learned how little I had done to help someone when they really needed it."

Harry froze, _was Hermione's worst memory when he'd appeared at her home on his birthday?_

He hoped not.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Not long after breakfast and their conversation, Madam Pomfrey let the four of them go, "So what do you want to do first Harry?" Hermione asked, putting the decision on him.

"We'll probably see Cedric at lunch, so there's little point in spending time looking for him. I also would like to see Professor McGonagall about something else as well as our homework, so, any objections to seeing if we can find her first?" Harry said as they walked along the corridor outside the hospital wing.

"Sounds like a plan, want to try her office first?" she asked as they reached the staircase.

"Sounds like a plan." They descended the stairs looking for the Transfiguration corridor.

Trying her office first had been a good plan as when they knocked on the door, their Transfiguration Professor called out, "Come on in."

Professor McGonagall was sitting at her desk as she poured over paperwork. She looked up to see who had come through her door, "Miss Granger, Mr Potter, I see Madam Pomfrey has released you from her care. What can I do for you?"

Hermione fidgeted uncomfortably; she had never had to ask a teacher this before, "Professor...we were wondering if we could possibly get an _extension", _she said it as though it was a dirty word, "for our half term homework?"

Professor McGonagall smiled at them and Harry felt himself relax, though Hermione was still tense, "Before I grant it, I need to ask why do you need the extension?"

Harry replied, "The same reason I always have Professor. Too much time in the hospital wing led to not enough time for us to finish our transfiguration homework."

Professor McGonagall nodded, "You have until Friday's lesson to hand it in, but if you can get it to me before then, please do. What about your other classes?"

Hermione relaxed now that she realised they had the extension granted and weren't going to be told off, "We have them covered Professor, It's just your class is first thing tomorrow...sorry."

"There is no need to apologize, Miss Granger, these things happen. Granted, not nearly as often as they happen for Mr Potter, but it's nothing to apologize for. Now, while you two are here, there is something I needed to talk to you about anyway", Harry grew anxious, whenever it concerned him, it was almost never good, "Professor Dumbledore has decided, and I must say I quite agree in this case, that until Bellatrix LaStrange is caught, the two of you, and Mr Longbottom, are no longer allowed to visit the village of Hogsmeade."

"But Profes-" Harry tried to argue but Hermione interrupted him, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder, "No Harry...Professor McGonagall is right. LaStrange is in the area, and visiting Hogsmeade would be stupid, as there are no teachers about to protect you", Harry thought that was quite rich, considering that the teachers hadn't even known LaStrange was in the castle, but he offered no further complaints. Hermione was just as disappointed as him, though she didn't visibly shot it. She and Harry had planned to use those weekends in the village as dates, and now that was off the table.

Professor McGonagall tried to offer some comfort and understanding to Harry, "I know it feels like you are being punished when you haven't done anything wrong, but I assure you, this is only about keeping you safe. I'm sure you understand."

"Yes Professor", Harry was dejected but begrudgingly understood the point about his safety.

The Professor breathed out a huge sigh before starting to usher the two of them out, "Now, I don't want to be rude, but I have paperwork I have to get back to, so do you two need anything else?"

"Actually, yes. You said you were fixing my photo album Professor, I was just wondering if you were done?"

"Oh yes. I managed to repair any damage done to it. One second", she got up and went over to a welsh dresser*, pulling out Harry's photo album and handing it to him, "Here you go. The pictures were completely undamaged due to the protection charms on them, but a few of the pages were burnt partially and needed some restoration. I had to guess how some of them looked beforehand, so a few of the patterns on the pages may be a little off, but that's just cosmetic."

Harry didn't care about that; as long as the photos were safe, it was all he really cared about. He quickly flicked through the album to reassure himself that his precious photos were fine. After he'd checked, he shut the album, "Thank You Professor. Thank you, these are all the photos I have of them", he hugged the album to his chest.

Professor McGonagall smiled down at him, "I understand Harry. Now off with the two of you, I need to get some work done before I'm interrupted again."

Harry and Hermione left the Professor to her paperwork and made their way back towards the grand staircase, "Do you want to take your album back to your dorm first Harry?"

Harry looked at the album in his arms, part of him wanted to do just that; to lock away the album somewhere safe. However, he had a idea, "No, I think it may be helpful."

Hermione nodded, she had explained that Professor Lupin had used the same spell he had in the train to get rid of the Dementors that had attacked the Quidditch pitch. With the Dementors having gone after Harry twice now, Hermione thought it was a good idea to ask the Professor if there was anything they could do to protect themselves if it happened again.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

They found the Professor in his office as well. He welcomed them both warmly as he opened the door, "Harry, Hermione! Come on in. I was just going to put the kettle on, would either of you like a cup?"

They both accepted as they went into the Professor's office. Harry had seen this same office last year when Lockhart had been using it. Back then it had been filled with self-obsessed pictures of Lockhart himself, beaming and smiling from every surface in the room. Lupin had thankfully took a less egotistical approach to decorating.

Under his care, the office had a more comfortable atmosphere, and it seemed that Lupin himself liked to live in a place full of books. Books on shelves, books in open trunks, even books stacked in columns on his coffee table.

Harry had a feeling that his DADA Professor and Hermione would get on very well. On a table against the wall that was shared with the DADA classroom was a glass tank. In that tank was one of the weirdest creatures Harry and Hermione had ever seen.

The small one-legged thing seemed to be made up of wisps of smoke. It was carrying a small lantern, that glowed surprisingly bright for its size. It had no visible eyes, but Harry had the distinct impression that it was watching them.

"Oh! It's a will-o'-the-wisp!" Hermione got excited as her knowledge returned after a moment of staring, "A..um, _oh_, what was the name wizards use? Hunkypink? No...Hinkypunk, _that's _it. They live in bogs and lure people off the paths."

"Very good Hermione. Ten points to Gryffindor. I have it ready for our lesson tomorrow", Lupin praised Hermione as he busied himself making tea, "So I see Madam Pomfrey has let you out of the hospital wing Harry. Are you here to ask for an extension on your Red Cap essay?"

"No, we actually finished it a few days ago. We got as much done before the Quidditch game as possible" Harry answered

"We need a bit more time for transfiguration", Hermione continued, "Professor McGonagall has already said that was fine. We actually wanted to ask about-"

"This", Harry cut her off and held up his photo album, "Hagrid gave me this at the end of my first year. It's a photo album. Hermione and I were looking through it on Halloween and...well", Harry flipped the album open and placed it on the coffee table next to where Professor Lupin had just placed a tray with three cups of tea. While Lupin looked at the photos on the page, Hermione shot Harry an angry look. She hadn't liked that Harry had talked over her. Harry gave her a quick apologetic look, silently saying that he would explain later.

Lupin handed the album back to Harry and started pouring the tea, "I guess you want to know why I never told you I was a friend of your parents?" He handed each of them a mug of tea, "Help yourselves to milk and sugar."

They busied themselves for a few moments as they each adjusted their drinks to their liking. Hermione didn't add any sugar to hers even though Harry knew she preferred it sweeter. At home the Granger's used artificial sweeteners, but obviously those weren't available in the wizarding world. Harry also left his tea unsweetened.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry and Hermione walked out of Professor Lupin's office almost two hours later. They had talked a lot about why Lupin hadn't told Harry about being friends with his parents. It had been a confusing jumble of his role as a teacher, advice from the Headmaster that Harry might not trust the DADA Professor and guilt over something Professor Lupin refused to elaborate on.

After that, the talk had moved to Lupin reminiscing over his time running around Hogwarts with Harry's father. He had told them about pranks they had pulled, such as the time Harry's father had set up Rune Arrays all around the castle, so that for the next twenty-four hours, everyone in the school, students teachers, even the ghosts, all spoke with a really thick french accent. Lupin swore he heard a cat meow in a french accent, though Hermione doubted that was possible.

After a while, Hermione managed to bring the conversation around to the topic of Dementors, and more specifically, how to fight against them. It was quite a feat, considering that Harry and Lupin were in fits of giggles half the time from the stories the Professor was telling. Hermione thought that the pranks were slightly immature, especially since some of them were done in their 6th, and even 7th, years, but she kept quiet.

Professor Lupin had been reluctant at first. The spell to repel Dementors was a post N.E.W.T. spell, but Harry argued that he just needed something that would buy him enough time to land if he was attacked during his next Quidditch game, or when there weren't any teachers around to protect them. After that, Professor Lupin had agreed that he would give them a lesson to try and learn the Patronus charm.

As Professor Lupin was showing them out of his office a thought occurred to Harry, "Professor, you said you saw me a lot when I was young", Professor Lupin nodded, so Harry continued, "Then, I must have known you rather well. Um...what did I used to call you? I doubt I called you Professor Lupin."

Lupin got a far away look in his eye and smiled at Harry. It seemed his question brought back fond memories for the professor, "You used to call me Uncle Moony."

An image of a rather large stuffed animal jumped into Harry's mind when he heard the name 'uncle moony', "Moony? Why Moony? And why am I remembering a giant stuffed dog?"

"Well, Moony was the nickname your dad and our friends gave me when we were students here. I was Moony, your father was Prongs. There was also Wormtail and...well, there was another called Padfoot, but he turned out to be not a very good friend. He's in prison now, after he joined you-know-who.

As for the giant stuffed dog. It was something I gave you your first birthday, only it was a wolf, not a dog, and it was only this big." He held his hands apart enough to indicate something about the size of an average house cat, "But you where a lot smaller then. I'm surprised you remembered it", He was happy that Harry remembered though, if the look on his face was anything to judge by.

"Sorry Professor, but we need to get to lunch. Harry still needs to talk to Cedric about something, and lunch is our best chance to catch him", Hermione hurried Harry along, reminding him that they still needed to speak with the Hufflepuff. He turned and waved to Lupin as they hurried down the corridor to the Great Hall, "See you later Professor...it was nice getting to know my Uncle Moony again."

A big grin spread over Lupin's face. Though he clearly enjoyed Harry calling him by his nickname, he told him, "Remember, it's just Professor while we are around the school."

Harry and Hermione made their way towards the Great Hall. Hermione turned to Harry, her voice a little cold, "Don't think I've forgotten about you talking over me in Professor Lupin's office. I would like an explanation."

It wasn't the first time Harry had done something Hermione didn't like. He had occasionally stuck his foot in his mouth, for as long as they had been friends, and that hadn't changed after they had become a couple.

Only, now she made him feel a lot more guilty, "I'm sorry Mione. I just thought that if Professor Lupin was talking about my parents first, he would be more likely to help with the Dementors."

"Why didn't you say something before we went to see him instead of talking over me like that?"

"I forgot. I'm sorry."

Hermione pulled his arm around her and she leaned into his side, "Just try not to do it again", she lightly scolded him.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**A few moments earlier**

"Oh brother mine!"

The Weasley twins were waiting, hidden outside Professor Lupin's office to prank the DADA teacher, so that they could attempt to catch the Professor in their latest scheme.

"Yes George?"

"Do we really think this will work?"

"Of course. We have pranked every Professor this school has..."

"All of them _except _Professor Lupin."

"Something we are here to remedy, are we not?"

"But, it's just that this prank, it's so simple, and we haven't been able to prank him yet." They had tried a few tricks on the man, but so far he had seen them all and avoided them. He somehow managed to spot every plan and trap the twins had, undoing them with little to no effort.

"_But_, the simplicity is why this will work. He won't expect anything this simple."

"Quiet, I think I hear them coming. Remember, wait until Harry and Hermione are clear. The last thing I want is an angry Hermione Granger in the same common room as me."

_"Professor, you said you saw me a lot when I was young...Then, I must have known you rather well. Um...what did I used to call you? I doubt I called you Professor Lupin."_

_"You used to call me Uncle Moony."_

_"Moony? Why Moony? And why am I remembering a giant stuffed dog?"_

_"Well, Moony was the nickname your dad and our friends gave me when we were students here. I was Moony, your father was Prongs. There was also Wormtail and...well, there was another called Padfoot..._

The Weasley twins looked at each other, then at the blank piece of parchment that Fred had taken out of his pocket.

"Abort!"

"You're damn right about that! No wonder we couldn't prank him...Our Professor Lupin is a living legend."

"He's a _marauder_!"

"You know what this means brother?"

"That we need a much better prank if we are going to keep our streak?"

"That as well, but not what I mean."

"Then what brother dearest?"

"Harry is _the son of a marauder!"_

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Author's Notes** jumper* - What British people call "sweaters" Welsh dresser* - A Welsh dresser (British English) or a china hutch (American English), sometimes known as a kitchen dresser or pewter cupboard, is a piece of wooden furniture consisting of drawers and cupboards in the lower part, with shelves and perhaps a sideboard on top (source:  wiki/Welsh_dresser) 


	23. Chapter 23 - Fighting the Darkness

I'm back yay! and this i think is my longest chapter yet so that's cool. so we should be back on the every Wednesday schedule now.

someone asked me to repost the discord link because the old one expired. so here discord-gg\9eYugn (remove the space, change - to . and the backslash to forward slash) if that one dies pm me.

i am starting to have trouble naming the chapters so if anyone has a suggestion put it in a review or a pm and if i like it i will use it

**Chapter 23**

**Tuesday 9th November**

Harry and Hermione were sitting down to their regular breakfast. At this time of year, it was porridge, as the simple dish really warded off the chill of Scottish weather rather well. Harry had, much to Hermione's disapproval, drowned his food in an apple and cinnamon preserve which was probably more sugar than fruit.

Hermione, with a casual flick of her wand and a muttered spell, sliced up the apple she has taken from the middle of the table, levitating it over her bowl. She added a small drizzle of honey after she'd tasted the apple and found it to be a little tart.

"So Harry, what are you going to do first period?" Ron asked. He was sitting on the other side of the table and doing his usual impersonation of a black hole, stuffing his face full of bacon, egg and sausage.

"I'm going to work on my Runes Project, you know...like I'm supposed to." Harry, who had grown up with both Dudley and Vernon as eating partners, was unfazed by Ron's eating habits, but Hermione looked like she was going to be sick as she watched a bit of egg that was wobbling, stuck to Ron's chin.

"What a waste. What's the point of a free period if you do _school work_? You might as well have just retaken Latin."

Retaking Latin was exactly what Ron had done. While he wasn't a complete lost cause at the subject like Harry, he had still come out of the class with a P. Ron had tried to do an independent study like Harry, but his idea to '_do something with Quidditch' _had been rejected by Professor McGonagall, and he had ended up taking Latin again.

Hermione decided to intervene at this point. Ron's disregard for education seemed to have set her off, "'_It'_ is not a waste Ron. Harry needs to get his project done, and why not do that work while we are in class. _Because_, If he doesn't do it then, then he would have to do it when he could be spending time with you or me. Oh, and for goodness sake, clean your face! You've had egg on your chin for the last 5 minutes."

Instead of grabbing a napkin and wiping his chin, Ron opted to use his hand to wipe the grime off of his face. He then tossed the cold, congealed bit of egg into his mouth, unfazed in the slightest by hygiene, "Thanks 'Mione. I guess it _would _be better that Harry gets the boring stuff done while he can't just hang with us."

Hermione pushed her mostly eaten bowl of porridge away from her, "Ugh, I'm done eating. I'm gonna make my way up to Arithmancy. Catch you two later." Harry, who had also 'finished his breakfast' grabbed his bag, "Hold up, I'll walk with you."

The two of them made their way to the classroom where Professor Vector taught her students. Hermione looked a little unwell, so Harry had asked her if she was feeling OK.

"I'm fine Harry. It's just Ron's eating habits. Usually, I can handle it, but him eating that egg from his face was just too much."

Harry nodded, agreeing with her completely, "I don't get why he's like that. None of the other Weasleys are like that at the table. I remember Mrs Weasley telling the twins off for talking with their mouths full when I spent the summer at the Burrow last year."

They were about ten minutes early for the Arithmancy, so Hermione took her seat at the front of the class and started pulling out her stuff for the class. Harry sat on the edge of her desk as they chatted about nothing in particular. When the other students started arriving, Harry told Hermione that he would see her later and made his way to the Library.

The library was almost empty when he arrived, there were only a few of the more studious N.E.W.T. students there. Most people who had a free period first thing in the morning took the opportunity to have a late breakfast after the masses have cleared from the Great Hall. Harry knew that wouldn't last; within the 30 minutes, more and more N.E.W.T students, and the odd O.W.L student, would arrive and start filling up the library. He took the opportunity of being comparatively early to claim one of the more comfortable corners of the library.

Harry took out his notes for his Runes Project and gave them a once over. His original idea, while decent and probably enough to get him a pass, didn't really have the same impact as his latest one. The original plan had been to see just how far he could push the usefulness of another enchanted hairband, like the one he had made for Hermione. He wanted to use the study to have a free pass with experimenting with different elements, and possibly make multiple hairbands for his girlfriend, all with different uses.

He had had a number of ideas for features to add as well. Illusionary human ears, possibly some runes to keep her ears at a comfy temperature, and make it so that the fabric of the cover didn't affect her hearing. He had even been looking into an array that would change the colour to better suit whatever she was wearing. While he still planned to make this hairband for Hermione, Harry was going to do something different for his assignment.

It had started with his memory, _that _memory, as Harry had taken to thinking of it. His idea had been based on watching his mum try to do wandless magic, since she was unable to get her wand. It had taken Harry a few hours to find the spell that his mother had tried, but he did find it. It was the spell '_Accio'_, she had been trying to call her wand to herself using the summoning charm.

Harry had also wondered how that night would've worked out if she had been successful in her attempts to summon her wand. Voldemort would have been facing an armed and powerful witch instead of the defenceless mother that his mum was that night. Maybe nothing would've changed, Voldemort had killed so many after all. But there would have been a chance, a chance for his mother to survive that night, to fight back against the person that had caused her, and people close to her, so much harm.

Harry was going to make sure people had that chance in the future.

He quickly got the books he needed and began researching how to build an array to summon a wand without the risk of it failing.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione was a little surprised and a little disappointed that Harry wasn't waiting for her when she left the Arithmancy classroom. Not that he had to be with her all the time, but they had pretty much established a pattern for Tuesday mornings. He would work on his project in the library, and as the library was on the same floor as the Arithmancy classroom Harry, who's time was more flexible, would be waiting for her.

Hermione hoped he'd just lost track of time, but with everything that had happened the previous week, she needed to make sure that he was OK. She made her way to the library as quickly as she dared with the strict Professor Vector in the corridor.

She entered the library not even thirty seconds later and started searching in between the stacks. She relaxed when she found Harry in one of her favourite reading corners. It wasn't the best spot in the library, but it was definitely one of the better ones.

He was so focused on his work that he hadn't even noticed that she was there. He had just gotten lost in his work, not even noticing as Hermione came up behind him and took the opportunity to have a cheeky glance at his notes.

She stared at the terribly untidy notes, confused. Half of the Runes where unfamiliar to her and the scribbled arrays and lines of runes were completely different from the notes she had read from Harry's project before. She picked up one of the pages of notes, but before she could read it she heard Harry cry out, "Hey! What do you thin-" He turned around to see his girlfriend intently reading his pages of notes, "oh, sorry 'Mione. Why aren't you in Arithmancy?"

"It's just gone 9:30 Harry. Arithmancy is finished. Well, for today at least."

"Really!? Sorry, I was going to wait for you outside your class like always, but I kinda got caught up in this."

"I can see that", she gave the page of notes in her hand another look, "These aren't the same arrays you were working on. Why the sudden change?"

"I'm changing the project. Doing something else", Harry half-mumbled at her in response. Now that he knew it was Hermione, he had gone back to scribbling things down for his project.

"Oh...you're changing the project..." The disappointed tone of her voice made him lookup. Hermione had a slightly disappointed look on her face, though she was trying to hide it. Harry then realised why she was disappointed and was quick to reassure her, "I'm still going to do the hairband, I'm just switching what I'm handing in for my grade. My new idea fits the requirements a lot better."

Hermione looked visibly happier after that, though Harry didn't blame her for being slightly disappointed. They'd been talking about his ideas for improving on the hairband for weeks, and he had gotten her hopes up. He would hate to ruin those hopes for her, so he had decided to work on both projects at the same time.

"So what's the new project?" Hermione asked, sitting down in the seat next to him.

"It's pretty much a wandless summoning of wands", Harry answered.

"What, like a disarming charm? A wandless type of expelliarmus with Runes?" She was confused as to why Harry would want to make something like that.

"No, it's actually the opposite. A way to call your wand to you, if it isn't in your hand...so people like my mum can stand a chance in the future", he trailed off at the end, going silent as he continued his work deep in thought.

Hermione wasn't too surprised; of course, Harry was going to change his project to something like this. It was just the sort of person he was, always trying to help others, "Will you be able to finish it in time, switching this late in the year?"

Harry considered it, "I think so. As long as I don't get stuck on the targeting, that is."

"Targeting?"

"Getting the array to only summon the owner's wand. And not end up with every wand in range suddenly flying at you. Or even just the wand nearest you, cause it may be a usable one."

"So you need to work out a way to summon a specific wand."

"Yep."

"Not that I don't think you can, but that sounds pretty difficult. What about your grade if it takes to long to work out?" Hermione tried to not sound like she didn't think Harry could do it. She did think he could pull it off, but she was concerned that he wouldn't be able to do it in time for his project deadline.

"In that case, since I'm still doing the hairband for you, even If I can't do it or don't get it done in time, I'll just hand in a hairband for my grade. I may get a lower grade, but I won't fail the entire thing, even if I fail the summoning project."

"You can do it, Harry, I know you can. However, you can't do it just right now. Pack up, we need to get to Charms before we're late."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Friday 12th November**

Harry had just gotten out of charms, when Hermione told him to go change his clothes. He was a little surprised at this, but his girlfriend obviously had some sort of plan, so Harry had decided to play along.

He went up to his dorm and switched out his plain white shirt for one of his blue ones, as Hermione had a thing for blue and always liked him in them. He switched his trousers to a pair that matched the blazer he put on, before checking himself in the mirror in the bathroom.

He figured he has dressed a little weird for the standards of the wizarding world, but didn't think he looked bad, from the point of view of someone raised in the muggle world. It wouldn't really matter anyway, considering Hermione was also raised in the Muggle world and often preferred to wear muggle clothing.

Harry was just about to leave the dorm when Seamus walked in. "Yo Harry. What's up with the muggle outfit?"

"Hey, Seamus. Hermione seems to have some type of plan for me tonight, and I figured that these clothes fit pretty well, considering we were both raised in the muggle world."

Seamus took it upon himself to finish the rest of the story, "So...she likes the way you look in muggle clothes, and she's got a 'plan' for you. Well, somehow, I think that this plan is gonna end up with her pulling you into a broom cupboard. Or at least, that's what you're hoping for..." He winked at Harry, who had turned bright red, neither complaining nor agreeing, "Uh...maybe something like that…" Harry muttered, before he quickly exited the room, with Seamus laughing behind him.

When he got to the common room, he found that Hermione wasn't back from her dorm yet, where she had gone to change as well. There were a few muttered comments from the other Gryffindors in the room, but most of them didn't even give him a second look. He didn't have to wait long for Hermione, who came down the staircase wearing a baby blue short sleeve shirt and her tartan skirt, that she had modified to accommodate her tail since he had last seen her wear it.

Hermione smiled as she saw Harry. She walked up to him and linked her arm through his, practically pulling him out the portrait hole and the common room. Harry tried asking where they were going, but Hermione just kept avoiding the question. However, once they went up the stairs from the 6th floor, where the entrance to Gryffindor tower was, it was pretty clear where they were headed to. There were only two places that they used on the seventh floor; the entrance to the owlery and the Room of Requirement.

When they reached the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, the door to the Room of Requirement was already there. Harry figured that Hermione must have planned this in advance. She pulled him to the door and opened it.

The room was a variation on the room they used previously, only this time there were a few things added or changed. The art on the walls was replaced with windows that showed the views around Hogwarts. The sun was already low in the sky, casting the room in an orange-red glow as the light hit the white curtains that framed the windows. The biggest change was that there was a gramophone in the corner playing soft music. The changes made the room feel a lot calmer.

"Thank you Dobby", Hermione said aloud, confusing Harry, as he couldn't see the little elf anywhere. Said elf then suddenly appeared right in front of them, startling both Harry and Hermione, "Dobby is happy to help Harry Potter's grangy", the wide smile on his face showed that he had indeed enjoyed himself, "Dobby be goings now."

"Thanks, dobby", Harry didn't know what he had done, beyond keeping the room open for Hermione, but he had seemingly helped her quite a bit, so that was all Harry needed to know. Dobby's grin grew bigger at Harry's gratitude before the elf popped out of the room.

Hermione finally answered the questions Harry had been dying to know, " I guess you want to know why I dragged you up here? Well, after everything that happened over the last couple of weeks, with what happened during half term and all the work we put in catching up with our homework, I thought we could use a night to just _relax_. No pressure, no homework, and a bit of dinner later."

Harry smiled, "That sounds perfect", he pulled Hermione into a kiss and the two lost themselves for a time as the rest of the world, and all their pressing concerns fell away.

The two of them spent the evening talking about nothing in particular, eating the shepherd's pie Hermione said Dobby made for them, relaxing in each other's company.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Wednesday 17th November**

Harry had just finished up a training session with the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Wood was pushing the team harder and harder, hoping to overcome the loss suffered against Hufflepuff. Harry, in particular, was feeling the pressure, considering it had been the first time he'd failed to catch the snitch since he'd began to play the game. According to the rest of the team, Harry was blaming himself too much, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that if he had done better then they would not currently be in last place for the cup.

Harry was just coming out of the changing rooms when Hedwig swooped past him. He grinned at his familiar; she always seemed to know when he needed to take a break. He knew what she was here for, she only came, when he had his broom, for one thing.

To fly.

It didn't matter that he had just had an exhausting training session playing Quidditch, he felt his fatigue drain away as Hedwig swooped into the sky, flying in lazy circles as she waited for him to join her. Harry obliged, jumping back on his Nimbus and following his familiar into the sky.

Hedwig made for the castle. The air currents around the numerous towers and roofs were always a little more chaotic than the rest of the grounds, and Hedwig always seemed to delight in swooping in and out of these air currents. Harry could see why, even if brooms didn't rely on air currents to affect their flight since his familiar was an owl, it would make a significantly larger difference to her. Harry didn't mind that Hedwig liked to go around these towers, and even though it was dangerous, one of the first games they played when they first started flying together was 'follow the leader'. It also helped test Harry's reflexes and skill in the air, but he often could never keep up with his familiar, as she was a lot more skilled and experienced in flying, considering she spent almost all of her time in the air.

Hedwig would lead him through these air currents, following their twists and turns as the air weaved around the school in every which way, sometimes even changing direction sharply as the currents would collide with others going in a different direction. It was like riding the cart at Gringotts, as the two of them weaved and span through the sky. Hedwig absolutely loved it, and if Harry was honest, so did he.

The two dived and swooped together for almost an hour before Hedwig flew over to Harry and landed on the handle of his broom. That was her way of saying that she was tired and wanted him to take her back to the owlery.

After he had dropped off his owl in her home, he slowly made his way down to Gryffindor tower to find Hermione. He was in an excellent mood, and took his time as he strolled through the castle, looking around at the magical scenery all around him.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry entered the common room, his broom slung over his shoulder. He looked around for his girlfriend, and immediately his good mood evaporated.

Hermione was by one of the windows that looked out over the Hogwarts ground, a piece of parchment in one hand, as the other tried to wipe the tears that were flowing down her face. He rushed over and pulled her into a hug, "'Mione, what's wrong? What happened?"

She didn't answer, and instead buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed. Harry just held her close, desperately trying to figure out what could've made his Hermione that upset.

Over the next few minutes, Hermione's tears slowly subsided. Even after she'd mostly stopped crying, just sniffling a little, Harry still held her close, his arms wrapped protectively around her, not that she was complaining.

The most important person in his life had just been crying and upset, and Harry was going to work out who, or what, had done this to her, if it was the last thing he could do.

Hermione began to push away from him lightly, and he let her, hoping that she could tell him what had her so sad. Silently, she picked up the parchment she had dropped when Harry had smothered her in a hug, and passed it to him. She snuggled into his side as he began to read what was revealed to be a letter to Hermione;

_Kitten,_

_I'm glad to hear that you and Harry are doing well. Your professor told us news of that LeStrange woman who had broken into your school, that she had attacked you and Harry._

_It had me and your father worried sick. Sometimes, I wish we could just pull you out of that school and homeschool you. But don't worry, we know just how much you love that school, and we don't have any way to teach you what you need to know as a witch anyhow. It doesn't stop your dad and I still from worrying though._

_Please promise me that you and Harry will try and stay safe. We know how much you love him as well, and we know that if he were in danger, you would willingly put yourself in danger to save him. Your dad and I have come to care for him a great deal, and we would hate to see him hurt any more than we already know he has been._

That sounded a little ominous, but it sounded like Hogwarts was the only option for the Grangers. Harry felt conflicted about the fact that they pretty much had no other option. On one hand, he had to admit the promise they had been given, that Hogwarts was the safest magical place in the country, had definitely been proven false.

It clearly wasn't as safe as the Grangers had thought, if an escaped convict was able to break out of prison and attack Hermione and him, right here in school.

On the other hand, the idea of Hermione going somewhere else without him made his chest hurt. He knew it was selfish, but he wanted her to stay, if only so that she could be there with him. He didn't think that was something Hermione would cry about though. Maybe, if her parents _had _pulled her out, but they were letting her stay;

_Everything is fine here at home. The surgery is ticking over. We had our regular Halloween spike of kids with cavities, as well as people who broke a tooth or two while drunk, or from falling over or something._

_It's a lot of work, but the money is always welcome. Your dad's been grumbling that his car insurance has gone up again, but honestly, what does he expect, after he bummed old Mrs Harris's car in the snow last winter!?_

_I told him to just pay the mechanic without going through the insurance company. Old Mrs Harris was fine with that, it was mostly paint damage after all. But you know your father, he went through the insurance and lost his no claims._

There didn't seem anything to make Hermione cry there, mostly just trivial information;

_Speaking of your father, we had a talk and there is something we should have done in the summer regarding Harry. We need to find out if he ever went to a dentist, and, if he has, how long it's been and if he is past due for a checkup. Can you get him, to send us the info in his next letter? We can give him a checkup over Christmas if he needs one._

Harry had never had a checkup. Hell, he'd never even been to a hospital; the Dursleys weren't bothered enough to bring him to a hospital, even if it didn't cost anything to do so, as they didn't want people asking questions about Harry's injuries.

"Gah! A dentist appointment!" Harry said in an over-exaggerated way, making Hermione giggle a little, even if she hadn't completely stopped crying;

_Good news, your grandmother will be joining us for Christmas. It's been awhile since she's seen you, what with you being away at school for most of the year. She's really excited to meet Harry, or as she's taken to refer to him; 'my baby granddaughter's first boyfriend!'_

_I haven't told her why Harry is staying with us. You and Harry will have to discuss what you want to say. I know Harry won't want to say much about the Dursleys, but as you know, your Gran is pretty smart, so I would suggest that Harry tells her at least some of the truth._

Well, that was going to be a _little _awkward;

_I do need to ask however that you leave Crookshanks at Hogwarts. As you probably remember, your Gran has that fur allergy. Don't forget to tell Harry about the annual New Year's party that the local affiliated dentists throw every year. Greg is doing the fireworks again, and you remember how impressive they were 2 years ago._

_Love you dear,_

_Mum (and dad)._

Harry couldn't see what had gotten Hermione so upset. The only thing he could see her being a little upset about was that Crooks had to stay at Hogwarts this Christmas, but that didn't add up to how upset Hermione had been when he'd walked in.

Hermione shifted a little and her ear brushed Harry's cheek.

Her ear.

Her _cat _ear.

Which had _fur_.

Hermione realised that he had finished the letter, "I-I can't go see my gran. She's allergic to fur, so she's allergic to me. I can never see my gran again, and I can't even tell her why", her sobbing intensified once she had said her troubles out loud.

Harry pulled her tighter against himself, literally giving her a shoulder to cry on. Once she had calmed down again he promised, "I'll see what I can do 'Mione. I'll fix this for you, so you can see your gran."

"You are _such _a boy sometimes", Hermione said, before kissing him on the cheek.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

It had taken Harry a week, and a bribe of the use of his broomstick service kit to Katie bell, but he finally had a solution to Hermione's cat hair problem. Katie was preparing to sit her OWL's in Ancient Runes, and while she didn't quite have Harry's creativity, she more than made up for it in experience and knowledge.

In the end they had come up with a modified version of Hermione's hairband and tail sock (Katie had refused to call it a bag). The new runes would keep all the cat hair inside the bag, and it would vanish any loose hair.

It wasn't perfect; Hermione would have to keep them on 24 hours a day, until her gran left for her home, or Hermione returned to Hogwarts. It was going to make washing a bit awkward, and Harry hoped her grandmother didn't buy her earrings for Christmas.

Did Hermione have pierced ears before the Polyjuice incident? He hadn't really paid too much attention to Hermione's ears before they started dating. He couldn't remember Hermione wearing any earrings, but that just meant she hadn't worn big noticeable ones.

All he had to do now was get Hermione's hairband and bag/sock, and stitch the new rune array into them.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Saturday 27 November**

Harry and Hermione sat down across from Ron as he shoved his breakfast down, eating at such a frantic pace, as if he were afraid someone was going to take it from him.

"Morning mate," Harry said brightly. Ron tried to reply, but the food in his mouth made him impossible to understand.

Hermione barked at him in disgust, "Ronald, don't talk with your mouth full!"

Ron swallowed his mouthful, "Sorry 'Mione. Mornin' guys."

Hermione wanted to berate Ron some more for his appalling table manners, but she and Harry actually wanted to ask a favour of him, and she knew that Ron could be rather petty, and the last thing she wanted was for him to refuse to help because she had gotten annoyed at his lack of basic hygiene.

"So, Ron, we were wondering if you could do us a favour", it was the last weekend of November, and as such, it was another Hogsmeade weekend, "you know Harry and I can't go to Hogsmeade, but we still need to do our Christmas shopping. We were wondering; when you go down later today, can you please go to these shops-" she placed a piece of parchment that had a list on it on the table "-and pick up a couple of owl order catalogues from each of them? It would be a huge favour."

Ron had a quick look over the list. Honeydukes, Dervish and Banges, Dominic Maestro's, Gladrags, Scrivenshaft's and Tomes and Scrolls were all. He looked like he was contemplating it, and he was about to speak when Harry added on, "You're probably going to most of the place's anyway, and I _know _your going to Honeydukes", he held up another list and a string purse with some coins in it, "I chucked an extra galleon in there, incase any of the prices went up. I'm not worried about the change after you've finished."

Upon hearing about the extra galleon and Harry not worrying about the change, Ron suddenly seemed quite eager to help, "Yeah, I'll do it! I mean...I don't mind picking stuff up for you guys. It's hard luck you two can't go yourselves."

Harry tried to hide his grin at Ron jumping in at the mention of the extra money. He knew it was the button to press with Ron, and he also knew it was a little manipulative.

Then again, the sorting hat _had _said that he would do well in Slytherin, and it wasn't like he was asking his friend to do anything that he wouldn't have done for Ron if their roles were reversed.

Hermione grabbed Harry's plate and started filling it and her own with wholewheat toast, poached kippers, poached eggs, and on a whim, she added a slice of bacon to each plate, crumbled over the top of the poached eggs.

"Thanks 'Mione", Harry said as he tucked in. He had grown rather fond of Hermione's favourite breakfast, though considering that she often put the food on his plate for him, after he had tried doing it for her, he usually ended up eating a Hermione-approved breakfast. Those usually consisted of healthy alternatives for Harry's favourite foods, with a preference towards all things fishy and milky.

"What are the two of you going to do today? Any plans?" Ron asked in between the shovels of food he was unloading into his mouth.

Harry swallowed his own mouthful of food before answering, something both Hermione and Harry wished Ron would do, "Lupin said he would show us the anti-Dementor spell. I want to be ready if they come to the next game."

At the mention of extra work, Ron appeared disinterested, only half listening as he continued to eat his fill. The three chatted a bit more, until Ron left to go to the carriages. Harry and Hermione went back to the common room as they had a few hours until their appointment with Lupin. They decided that they should use the time productively, and Hermione would be using it to work on her Arithmancy homework, while Harry worked on his project.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

"Ok, the charm to fight against Dementors, the one you two are going to start trying to learn today, is called a Patronus charm."

Harry and Hermione were sat in Professor Lupin's office for their first private lesson. Lupin continued in his talk, "I say _try, _because the Patronus charm is not normally taught until N.E.W.T level, and then, only if you take the N.E.W.T Defence Against the Dark Arts. As such, a lot of _adult _witches and wizards cannot cast this spell. Luckily, I happen to be one of the wizards that can.

Now, a Patronus is a strange spell, it affects Dementors, as well as a creature called a Lethifold, but Lethifolds live in tropical jungles, so I doubt you will ever see one. A Patronus is a sort of guardian, that works by flooding an area around its form with positive energy. That energy is anathema to Dementors. It's also a shield against the mind altering effects that Dementors have on their victims. Any questions so far?"

"Actually Professor, I have one. You said that 'A patrones is a sort of guardian that works by flooding an area around its form with positive energy', so what is the form of a Patronus?" asked Hermione.

"'They take on the form of animals. Each one is unique to the witch or wizard who conjures it. Normal animals, such as cats, dogs and owls, are most common, but they can sometimes be magical creatures, such as Kneazles and Krups. Those two are the most common magical animal Patronuses though."

"Is the form of our Patronuses completely random? Or is it something to do with each of us as a person?"

"The form tends to have something to do with the caster, but what that something is can vary a lot. Enough chat though, i'm pretty sure you two didn't come here for a history of the charm. Stand up and wands out", the two teenagers complied. Lupin also stood up and brandished his wand, "the wand movement for this spell is simple enough; a complete circle going Deisul*, starting and finishing at the the 12-o'-clock position on a clock face. Then, bring the tip of your wand straight down through the circle, down to the number position of 6-o'-clock. Practice it now."

The wand movement was simple enough, and Harry and Hermione felt they had it down after only a few minutes. Lupin clapped his hands together and began the next part of the lesson, "Excellent, excellent. Next up is the incantation. The incantation is '_Expecto Patronum_'. _ex_-PEK-_toh_ _pa_-TRO-_num_. You need to enunciate the '_pek' _in 'Expecto' and the '_tro' _in 'Patronum'. Harry, you first."

Lupin had Harry and Hermione say the incantation over and over, not stopping until each of them had said it perfectly 10 times in a row. He then moved onto syncing the incantation with the wand movements. The one-on-one, or in this case, one-on-two, tutorial like this seemed to work really fast, compared to sitting in a class of 25 to 50.

"Now comes one of the more difficult aspects of this spell; to cast this spell, you need to be feeling a certain emotion. Can either of you guess which emotion you would need to be feeling to cast this charm?"

Harry didn't have a clue. The way he had understood magic, was that emotions created more powerful magic, and that, depending on the strength of the emotion, it could also make that magic harder to control. This was the first he'd heard about the _type _of emotion affecting his magic, and that you would need to channel a specific emotion.

Everything he had learned so far hadn't worried about which emotion you felt when casting; happy, sad, angry, it all only made magic stronger, though more unrestrained. You used that magic to cast spells. However, this seemed harder; focusing on one emotion, for any amount of time, seemed quite hard to Harry, but he could think of a few circumstances where he would easily be able to do that.

Hermione, it seemed, had a lot less trouble wrapping her head around the concept, "Well...if the Patronus is a creation of _positive _energy, then I would guess emotions that are _positive_, like joy, hope, gratitude, happiness and love."

"5 points to Gryffindor. While gratitude and hope are often not quite enough to produce a Patronus, happiness, joy and love most definitely are. Now Harry, why don't you see if you can answer this next question before Miss Granger; how do you think we go about choosing an emotion to feel, so that we can cast a spell?"

Harry thought about it for a few seconds, "I would guess, if you're trying to feel a specific emotion, one of your best bets would be to just do something that made you feel that emotion. If you can't do something, then I presume to try to remember when you felt that might work?"

"Another 5 points to Gryffindor. It is very rare to find anyone who tried to do something that would invoke a positive emotion, as usually, you need to cast the Patronus charm right then and there. You don't have the time to arrange to sit down and read your favourite book, or visit a muggle amusement park, so remembering when you did those things is almost always a far better strategy. I want the two of you to try and remember a moment when you were really happy."

Harry tried to think of a happy memory. Everything he could remember from before Hogwarts was out. He then thought about his first trip to Diagon Alley and smiled.

"Ok, do the both of you have a happy memory?" They both nodded, "Ok then, on the count of three, I want you both to try and cast the spell. One... Two...Three!"

"Expecto patronum!" Harry and Hermione both said, waving their wands, saying the incantation and calling upon their magic.

Absolutely nothing happened.

But the two of them had expected that, they were in their third year of magical education at this point, and both knew that they weren't likely to get any sort of result from the spell the very first time they tried it, let alone from a particularly advanced one such as this.

Lupin also seemed to have expected it, "It doesn't matter that nothing happened. Remember, the magic you're doing is years ahead of your age. Let's try again. One...Two...Three!"

"Expecto patronum!" They both did the exact same thing as last time.

And again, nothing happened.

"And again! One...Two...Three!"

"Expecto patronum!" This time, a silvery mist burst forth from the tip of Hermione's wand and wrapped itself around her, "Oh! That's amazing! You can actually _feel _it."

"Very good Hermione. Harry, may I ask what memory you are trying to call upon? You can, of course, keep it to yourself if you like."

Harry didn't mind sharing the memory with Hermione and Lupin at all, "Uh, my first visit to Diagon Alley", he admitted without hesitation.

"You might want to try thinking of something happier."

Harry tried to find a happier memory. The problem was, he didn't have many. Yes, he had amazing moments with Hermione, but there was always something else with them. When they became a couple, he was angry at Ron. When he had been invited to stay at the Grangers', he had been fleeing the Dursleys. Even when Hermione had given him his birthday gift, he had been worried about her, because she had been upset at herself. Not that being with Hermione wasn't great; each of those times had been infinitely better just because Hermione was there. It was just...Harry couldn't think of a time when he was just _happy_. It was like there was a limit in his head he just couldn't get past.

Limits? Why did that sound important? He had no limits like that, did he?

No Limits!

Suddenly, Harry's mind was filled with a fast-paced techno beat, accompanied by the vocals of 2unlimatid. In his mind's eye, he remembered Hermione's hips swaying back and forth in time to the music in the kitchen of the Grangers'

"Expecto Patronum!" The same silvery mist formed around the tip of Harry's wand, just like it had with Hermione's. It was thin and wispy, but it was a start.

**Author's Notes:**

Deisul*- comes from Gaelic (both the Irish and Scottish forms, found as deiseil, deiseal and deasal), and means "right", being the direction one turns when going clockwise. it has a good connotation. The opposite is widdershins.

oh and I'm trying to come up with a name for Hermione's maternal grandmother any suggestions would be helpful


	24. Chapter 24 - truth and consequences

yay here is our mid-week pickup as promised back on our regular schedule. once again Mattysic my beta is an absolute legend. thank you to everyone who suggested names for Hermione's Nan.

Fast Frank asked

If Hermione's grandmother is so allergic, what about Crookshanks?

well as Hermione was reminded that her gran was allergic with a letter asking her to leave crooks at Hogwarts for christmass i would guess that she is allergic to crooks as well. crooks is staying at Hogwarts. Hermione asked the girls that are staying in her dorm to keep an eye on him

**Chapter 24**

Tonks really didn't like her assignment. At first, when the boss lady had said that she had a special assignment for her, Tonks had been ecstatic. Ecstatic, until she realised the full details of what that meant; since she was not a fully qualified Auror, she was only a trainee, a 'special assignment' meant off the books. That meant no pay, no backup, and most importantly, no acknowledgement, she wouldn't even get any bonus points for her grade at Brixton.

If it was any other case, she would have considered turning it down, but she was almost uniquely qualified for this job. Firstly, her father was a muggleborn, and as such, she was very familiar with the muggle world and could pass in it rather well. Secondly, she was a metamorphmagus, which made it extremely easy for her to create a throwaway identity, and that was extremely useful for undercover work.

However, the real reason that she had been selected for this position was that she was one of the few people Director Bones could trust absolutely with this _irregular _assignment. Most of the fully qualified Aurors would file an objection to investigating a muggle committing crimes against other muggles. which was understandable as it was well outside their jurisdiction, and was not in the slightest a magical issue.

The other point of concern to Director Bones was the wizard this investigation was connected to. As discreet as most usually were, stuff had leaked to the Press in the past. Especially when the victim already had a lot of interest in the media. And while Tonks couldn't guarantee that she would never find a case that she would want to go to the press about, there was no way in hell she was ever going to set those vultures loose on her little cousin. |Well...not this cousin anyway.

When she revealed to Harry and his cute little girlfriend that both Harry and herself were related to Bellatrix LeStrange, she had expected Harry to make the connection that they were also related to each other. Instead, Harry had a small breakdown about how every member of his family wanted to kill him. And while that was most definitely not true for her and her mother, the story he then revealed about his aunt and uncle made her realise that the Tonks might be the only blood relation that Harry had that would stand by him.

She hadn't dared to tell Harry that in Madam Pomfrey's office. Harry had just had an emotional breakdown about members of his family trying to kill him. Telling him that he was shut in an office with a previously unknown member of his family could've possibly made things far worse.

So instead, she was going to prove it to him. She was going to make sure that one of the sources of his nightmares was put behind bars for a long time, at the very least. If she had to get down on her belly and crawl through broken glass, she was going to prove to her cousin that there are people out there for whom family matters.

She remembered back to when she was a little girl sitting on the sofa next to her mum and her aunt Lily, baby Harry in her lap while her mother and his mother watched and made sure that she supported his head. Harry giggling and smiling up at her. She wanted to see that same smile on his face again.

That was why Director Bones could trust her with this assignment. Even when fully trained Aurors, who would be far more skilled at the job, were available, they would be unsuitable for this more 'personal' assignment. Tonks would give it her all, and she would keep quiet and she would prove herself to her little cousin that there was still a spark of light left in the family.

Currently, Tonks didn't look like Tonks. Gone were her feminine and youthful curves, and in their place, a sturdy, middle-aged heavyset and weathered looking bloke. He had a rough accent, an even rougher speech patterns, and answered to the name of Adam. It was one of a number of identities she had created after she had joined the Auror Corps at Brixton. It wasn't a deep cover identity, but it would pass a service background check.

Right now, 'he' was off to see a woman about a dog. Or more precisely, a Dursley about a bulldog.

It turned out that Marjorie Evelyn Dursley bred thoroughbred British bulldogs on a farm just outside Guildford In Surrey, and Adam had always wanted a bulldog. Seemed like a good excuse to do some recon.

Tonks drove up the lane that led to the farm. That was one way a lot of Ministry personnel messed up. They would apparate near a place and walk the rest of the way. That was fine in towns and cities as they had public transport. Out here though, it would be weird to turn up without a vehicle. Not that many of them could drive. Her grandfather had taught her.

Her father had offered, as he knew how to drive, but she had gone with her gramp's, as he actually used his car everyday. As a Muggle, it was his best choice for getting around. Her dad on the other hand, got to and from work using the floo, or by apparating, meaning that he could go months sometimes without starting up his car.

Tonks pulled the car up the drive to the farm. She considered using magic to open and close the gate, just to be lazy, but got out and did it the Muggle way in case someone was watching, then drove on up to the large farmhouse.

Marge Dursley's residence was nice enough, it was a large white-washed old style farmhouse with a large barn to one side. Tonks got out of the car and immediately tripped over her own feet. That was the drawback to being a metamorph. As your limbs constantly changed length, so your brain didn't form the same patterns for movement as a regular person did. She picked herself up just as a woman stepped out of the house.

That woman was Marge Dursley. After Harry had informed Director Bones of the investigation into underage magic, she was able to dig up some DMLE files on the indecent. What the files contained wasn't worth much; It had basically said Harry lost control of his magic and accidently stuck his aunt to the ceiling, along with a few medical records and a case closed marker.

Honesty, it looked like a bit of a cover up. The question was whether Director Bones had covered up for Harry to give herself time to investigate the Dursley's, or if someone else had done it so that Director Bones wouldn't notice. But the reason that Tonks knew that the woman was Marge was that the joke of a file had also contained a picture of the women.

She was heavyset, had almost no neck, and had a mustache that rivaled Adam's. It was showtime.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

"The mission was a complete success, ma'am."

Tonks was back to her old self, and was stood in front of the Director's desk in her office at the Ministry. When she'd walked in, Director Bones had put up more privacy charms than Tonks even knew existed, before inviting her to talk.

"Give me a full report", a full report wasn't entirely necessary, especially since this was an off-the-books job. You didn't need protocol for these kinds of mission, but it was good practice to keep, particularly for Tonks as she was the trainee.

"I posed as a buyer for a puppy to get my first look around the property. I was shown around some of the dog breeding places of the farm, and everything looked above board. I made an 'excuse' not to buy a dog then and there before leaving. Now that I was familiar with the property, I apparated back under the cover of darkness at night, using every stealth charm I knew. A search revealed that she's involved in a local dog fighting circuit, she has a dogfighting ring hidden inside a patch of forest on the grounds. Charms revealed that the blood within the pit is a variation of old and fresh, and by the results, I would suggest that the pit is used regularly. Also...it wasn't all canine fights.

There was more than a little human blood in there.

She's also involved with slavery. I found sixteen young children, between the ages of four and thirteen, locked in an out-building. From her records that I found", Tonks loved that off-the-books missions were so much easier as you didn't need to wait for a warrant to search through a house, "She holds the kids of Muggles who have been trafficked into Britain illegally, so that whoever has the parents is able to control them.

Not gonna lie, Director, she is one _sick _bitch. If she were a witch, I would already have Aurors bringing her in front of the Wizengamot for the Dementors."

Director Bones had sat silently throughout the report, her expression turning from satisfaction to anger, before finally settling on absolute horror, "You have the needed evidence for the Muggle authorities?"

"Yes ma'am, photos of everything taken on a muggle camera. I also duplicated the records and put low level notice me charms on the hidden buildings. We need to get the muggle authorities in ASAP boss. It broke my heart, leaving those kids there."

"Do you have evidence for me?"

"Yes ma'am", Tonks pulled a bottle of silvery liquid mist from her robes, "My memory of the mission."

She waited as her boss opened a cabinet which revealed a pensive. Pensive memories were not admissible in the Wizengamot, as memory modification was easy to do. It was even taught at a basic level in OWL's to maintain the 'Statute of Secrecy', but it was a useful tool for Aurors, as an examination of the victim's memories could give them a good lead on where to look for evidence they could use.

Director Bones spent almost 5 minutes in the pensive, examining Tonks' memory while said person waited. When she returned from the Pensieve, the two of them jumped straight back into the conversation, "We will have them there tonight if we can. We just need to give the police the right reason."

"How will we do that? Even if I was to take all the photos to the cops, it would take some time to get them to move. They need warrants and stuff, just like we do."

"I have a way, if you don't mind going back tonight?"

"If it gets them kids out of there any sooner, I'll go right back there now."

Director Bones smiled at her trainee, "Here's what I want you to do. Break back into the house, then call the police. Claim to be Dursley and report a burglary in progress in the house, beg them to send someone, then hide till they get there. When you know they'll be able to hear you, scream bloody murder from inside the barn she has the kids in. Don't be seen, and get out before they open the building. They will find the kids and start an investigation."

Tonks thought about if for a few seconds. It would work, "I'll see to it right away, boss. What about the photos?"

Director Bones thought for a few seconds, "Duplicate them and send them to the Muggle press anonymously. Add a note about where it was and who was running it. Let the vultures have her. With the kids in the press, there is a good chance their parents will see they are safe and may be able to get free of whoever has them."

"Anything else ma'am?"

"As your boss no. But as an old friend of your parents, Dora, good job."

"Later boss. Seems I got some work left to do", with that, Tonks left the office of her superior and made her way out of the Ministry, one thought going through her head the whole way; _one Dursley down._

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Most of December was fairly quiet for Harry and Hermione. As the weeks passed they did homework, bought Christmas presents, and spent a few evenings relaxing in the Room of Requirement. Harry was able to finish the modifications to Hermione's accessories so that she could spend time with her gran.

They had had a few more private lessons with Professor Lupin, practicing the Patronus charm. Hermione was steadily improving with each lesson, but Harry had hit a wall in their second lesson and hadn't gotten any better since then.

He was starting to worry that he just wasn't happy enough to cast the charm.

Harry was in his dorm room, packing up his trunk for the journey back to London. It was surprising just how much of his stuff ended up all over the Dormitory, instead of staying in his trunk where it belonged. Stuff like his dressing gown being hung on the back of the door to the bathroom he understood, or even the trainers under his bed.

However, how in the hell his blazer had ended up on top of Ron's four-poster bed, he would never work out; it was just one of those mysteries, like where that _goddamn left sock disappeared to!_

Ron was grumbling about having to remain at Hogwarts over Christmas. Harry didn't really get it; Christmas was about family, and most of Ron's family was here at Hogwarts with him. What was there to complain about?

_Maybe he just missed his mum's cooking._

Just as Harry was closing up his trunk, Fred and George came into the room, a strange mix of excitement, and a little disappointment, written on their faces. "Harry, we need to talk to you", one of them called out to him.

"Yes, _very _important business", the other added.

Harry hesitated briefly as he eyed the two of them, suspicious at what they were up to. Upon his pause, the twins both grumbled, "We aren't going to prank you, we just need to show you something-"

"-The secret to our greatest pranks!"

"Behold", one of the twins held up an old battered piece of parchment which he had taken out of his back pocket. Harry scoffed in disbelief, _surely this was some sort of trick_, "your secret is an old bit of parchment!? If this is one of your pranks, you guys are gonna have to do better."

"An old bit of parchment!" the twin holding the parchment cried in mock offence.

"The utter _outrage_!" The other exclaimed.

"The _blasphemy_!"

"The _disgrace_!"

The two of them continued with their back-and-forth for a couple more moments, each time getting more and more extravagant, and it was starting to give Harry a dizzying headache. It was probably the reason the twins did it, just to annoy him.

After they'd finished in their tyrade, they both turned back to Harry, "_This_, my dear boy, is no ordinary bit of old parchment. No, no, no, _this _is one of the most ingenious bits of spellcraft we have ever laid our eyes on."

"Yeah, right", Ron said as he walked over from his bed.

"An aid to magical mischief-makers, left to us from a couple of Legends, who have long since departed these hallowed halls of pranking", they continued, as if Ron hadn't interrupted.

"This, Harry, is the _Marauder's Map_", they waited to see if that name meant anything to Harry, but it didn't.

After a short pause, the twins continued, though they seemed disappointed that Harry didn't recognise the name, "the Marauder's Map is the most fantastic artefact ever to grace the halls of Hogwarts."

"It shows not only the corridors and the stairs, helping you to get between classes, -"

"-but also, _secret passageways-_"

"_-and,_ the passwords needed to access them!"

They paused for a moment to let that information process in Harry's mind. He didn't see why they were so worked up about this map, there were plenty of items that could help you navigate Hogwarts.

The twins weren't finished though, "However, there's _more_. It's real value-"

"-It's true, miraculous power-"

"-lies with in one last ability-"

Harry was getting annoyed with their antics by now, "What is it!?" he snapped. He had places to be, and people to see. Namely, a certain bushy-haired girlfriend of his. When the two of them continued to just grin at him, he said, "well, if you aren't going to tell me, then I'll be leaving!"

They both moved out of the way so that he could exit the room, though he made no move to. Though he hated to admit it, he _was _curious, and he knew that if he left now, the secret to that bit of parchment would nag him for ages. And, he knew the twins wouldn't tell him if he walked away now. He groaned in frustration, "just tell me what the bloody thing does."

Their grins only grew wider, "Well, since you seem to be _so _very curious...It shows the location of everyone in Hogwarts at that precise moment in time."

At Harry's look of amazement, they laughed, "You want to know where the kitchens are? The Marauder's Map can tell you."

"Trying to avoid Filch, or a greasy head slimeball? The Marauder's Map will help you."

"And what if you're looking for a certain bushy-haired girlfriend of yours? The Marauder's Map will show you where she is."

Harry's curiosity was at its peak by now; that map would be very useful, "but why are you showing this to me?"

Right then, the twin holding the parchment held it out to him, "We're giving it to you."

"Hey! I'm your brother, why would you give it to Harry?" Ron yelped.

"Ron, it's probably a joke anyway", Harry turned to face Ron, trying to placate him. He knew how jealous he could get at times.

"_But_, it's not a joke, and as for why we are giving it to you Harry, observe", The twins unfolded the parchment and laid it out on top of Harry's trunk. While one of them focused on making sure the parchment stayed down, the remaining twin said to Harry, "Tap the map with your wand and say; '_I solemnly swear I am up to no good._' Then, just sit back and watch."

Fully expecting this to be some sort of strange prank by the twins, and that the parchment was probably going to blow up in his face with coloured smoke that dyed his hair purple for the next three days, Harry went along with it anyway. He touched his wand to the centre of the blank parchment and repeated what he'd been told, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Suddenly, black lines began to spread out from the tip of Harry's wand as they snaked around the parchment, creating longer and longer lines that crisscrossed with each other. Soon, the lines fell into a definite pattern, outlining the familiar features of Hogwarts; long corridors, marked classrooms, dormitories, the Great Hall, the Dungeons, all of the rooms within Hogwarts became visible beneath Harry's very eyes, small bits of text appearing in each room. There were even some words that were moving around, many of them in fact. Possibly hundreds.

Some lines seemed to indicate that there were secret passages that lead out of Hogwarts, but what really captured Harry's attention was the large script that had appeared at the top of the page;

**Messrs** _**Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs**_

**Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers**

**are proud to present:**

_**The Marauder's Map**_

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and..." that last name at the top of the page. It was all that Harry looked at. The more he looked at that name, there more it would seem to burn into his soul.

_Prongs_

"_Dad.._."

"And that is why we are giving the map to you, Harry."

"When we learnt recently that Harry is the son of the _legendary _Marauder Prongs-"

"-We felt that who else would be the rightful owner of such an artefact?"

Harry had completely lost track of the conversation as he stared at the map, the map made by his _father _and his friends. His dad had once held this exact same bit of parchment as Harry was. It was both a happy and a sad thought.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

_Unnoticed by anyone in the room, Ron's pet rat Scabbers had run out of the room through the now open door, deciding that now was a brilliant time to spend some time away from Gryffindor Tower. He scampered down the stone staircase, through the busy common room, taking care to avoid his owner's sister and friends, before exiting the portrait hole. He took a few handy shortcuts through the castle before entering onto the castle grounds, where he ran off in the direction of the Forbidden Forest._

_Who knew what Scabbers was up to... _

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry and Hermione were aboard the Hogwarts Express, headed back to London for the Christmas break. Unlike the last time they were going 'home' to London, Harry was completely relaxed, and was even looking forward to seeing the people who would be waiting at King's Cross to greet Hermione and himself.

_That's a first_, Harry thought.

The only thing Harry wished he could change was the amount of homework they were doing. Sure, he liked his school work and enjoyed it, but there was a lot less homework and a lot more cuddling last time, and like any teenage boy, he would obviously prefer the cuddling.

It had made sense last time they were going home, as they weren't going to be staying together for the holiday, so Hermione's logical '_get the homework out of the way_' approach had been pushed aside for, '_this is the last time I will see my boyfriend for over a month, best make the most of it'._

At the Grangers', Hermione had the chance to spend at least some of it with her gran, so she had wanted to get as much of it done now, so that their homework wouldn't get in the way of spending time with her gran. This had led to the trip mostly being dedicated to their Christmas homework, but Harry didn't mind, as long as Hermione would get to see her gran more. After all, he'd spent so long working on her hairband just for that reason, so it would be stupid to let something like homework get in the way now.

The two of them were just finishing up a particularly tricky Potions essay that Snape had set, when they heard the compartment door slide open.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the perfect pair", of course it was Malfoy, flanked by 'thing one' and 'thing two', otherwise known as Crabbe and Goyle, "Off back to the Muggles for Christmas this year then? Learnt your lesson about curious Mudbloods playing with magic at Christmas? Tell me, what would you do if I threw that hairband of yours out of the window Granger?"

Hermione froze for a second. If Malfoy did that, her Christmas with her gran would be ruined before it started. The problem was, you never show fear to a bully, that only encourages them, and even if Hermione had only reacted for a second, it was still enough for Malfoy to see and to use against her. Malfoy was unfortunately very perceptive. He reached out for Hermione's hairband, but his hand was stopped part way.

"If Hermione's hairband goes out that window Malfoy, I will _throw _you out after it", Harry had gotten to his feet in a flash and had caught Malfoy's wrist in his left hand, his right already holding his wand, pointed straight at the point where Malfoy's jaw and neck met.

Things one and two lumbered forward, trying to intimidate Harry, but he ignored them, knowing they wouldn't risk anything while he had his wand on Malfoy, "Just walk away Malfoy."

Nobody moved for a few moments, but in his head, Harry was planning just what spells to use if this did take a bad turn. Malfoy was trying to think of a way out without looking weak to the two of them. Meanwhile, Hermione was silently begging for a prefect to come along, so that they could diffuse the situation. Thing one and two didn't do much thinking, they were most likely wondering about what was for dinner, if that counted as thinking.

It was Hermione who was the closest when, Penelope Clearwater, the Head Girl and girlfriend of Percy Weasley, came along, doing her prefect rounds, "What's going on here?" she demanded.

"Nothing, we were just leaving. Crable, Goyle, come on", the two Slytherins followed behind him without a word.

Penelope let them pass, but stayed where she was, a questioning stare aimed at the pari, making it obvious that she expected answers. While Hermione felt compelled to supply that answer, she didn't want to include _why _the hairband was so important. Harry didn't seem to have any problem though, as after Hermione had filled in what happened, he strongly added, "I won't let him keep Hermione from her family."

When Penelope looked at Hermione for an explanation, she hesitantly told the prefect about what Harry had done for her with the hairband and how much it meant for her. Penelope then realised why Harry had reacted so strongly.

Penelope gave them a warning about not rising to provocation in the future, but smiled knowingly at Hermione when Harry said that he didn't care if that provocation was towards his girlfriend. She then went off to go complete her rounds. Despite the fact that they found it harder to concentrate after the run-in with Malfoy, they spent the rest of the trip working on the transfiguration homework for McGonagall.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

When they finally reached King's Cross Station, they were both tired of homework, and eager to return home. Or, in Harry's case, return to _Hermione's _home. While he did really enjoy living with the Granger's, he had always felt like he was intruding on their family life. Hermione helped him with his trunk, as they only brought the one trunk, which was Harry's trunk, but held the few things Hermione wanted to bring home with her. Hermione already had a lot of clothes and everything else that she would need at home, and she didn't see the need to bring all her stuff back with her.

Instead, she had just put a few things into Harry's trunk. 10-12 specific outfits she wanted, a few books that she thought would help with her homework, and a couple of nic-nacs she couldn't bear to be apart from, though these were mostly photographs or gifts from Harry that were special to her.

The platform was filled with the Wizarding parents of the returning Hogwarts students. Muggle parents were unable to get onto the platform and would be waiting in the muggle part of Kings Cross. Harry and Hermione fought their way through students that were greeting their parents, making their way towards the Archway that signified the border between platforms nine-and-three-quarters, and the rest to King's Cross Station.

Hermione's parents were waiting on the other side, along with a number of other parents and guardians of Muggle Born students. Hermione ran to her parents and threw her arms around them, as they held each other in a tight embrace. After 4 months, the three of them were ecstatic to see each other, but Harry, who was spectating them with a mixture of sadness at missing out and happiness at seeing Hermione so happy, hadn't expected Mrs Granger to walk up and hug him as well.

It wasn't one of the bone crushing hugs that he got off Hermione, or that Hermione got of her parents. It was just a quick side-hug but was one that said Harry was missed as well, and while he hesitated for a few seconds, unused to hugging anyone but Hermione, he did return the hug in kind. He had missed Mr and Mrs Granger as well.

After all the greetings were out of the way, Mr Granger steered them all to the car. Once they'd loaded Harry's trunk in the back, they all got in the car, but they didn't pull out as Harry had expected. Hermione was looking just as confused as him, and was about to ask why they were waiting, when Mr and Mrs Granger turned around in their front seats to face the two of them in the back.

"Something has happened in the last few days that I think you need to know about Harry. In fact, you probably deserve to know this more than anyone else, seeing as you have experienced it", Mr Granger passed a puzzled Harry a copy of the Daily Mirror. Harry checked the date before he unfolded it, noticing that it was from two days ago. When he unfolded the paper, he saw the front page, the part that Mr Granger said he should see;

**Evilest woman in Britain **

**Pleads not guilty**

**Trial set early January**

But what captured his attention the most wasn't the headline, it was the picture that went with it. That picture, the one in relation to the title, was of Marge Dursley, walking down the steps of a courthouse;

_There was more drama this week in the case of _

_Marjorie Dursley. After police were called out to her_

_residence a few weeks ago, they discovered that Ms_

_Dursley was not the clean, upstanding citizen she_

_pretended to be. A search of her property found not one_

_but SIXTEEN minors, all of whom were children of people_

_who had come to the UK in search of work. However,_

_instead of finding employment and safety here, the families_

_were brutally ripped apart, and these children it would seem,_

_were held to force the compliance of their parents._

_This, however, was not the only crime that was found_

_to be organised on the property, as Ms Dursley also had _

_apparently kept a "Pit", mostly for dogfighting, though details_

_are sketchy at the moment. One source at the [insert _

_forensic lab here] has said that there was fresh blood in those_

_pits._

_Shockingly, despite all the evidence against her,_

_Dursley has decided to plead 'not guilty' to the charges, though_

_not on the grounds that she didn't commit those crimes, or that_

_the evidence found against her was illegal. No, she is pleading_

_not guilty as apparently the police had entered her property_

_without a warrant._

_Authorities are claiming that they had had a report of_

_a burglary from inside the house, and once there had been_

_a reasonable suspicion of a crime in progress on her property,_

_They were allowed to proceed with an investigation._

_Would the trial set for early January see Miss Dursley_

_Charged as guilty? It won't be long until we find out. And this_

_reporter hopes that the police have solid grounding for their_

_Actions, as the evidence against Miss Dursley is very strong_

_And I'm sure we all would hate to see Justice missed over_

_improper procedure._

_For more on the stories of the children see page 5_

Harry didn't know what to say. He handed Hermione the paper so she could read it. "Oh well, this is good, isn't it?" Everyone in the car looked at Hermione, "for Harry I mean. It will keep her out of his life."

"Unless they let her go. With my luck, she'll get off scot-free."

"That's not likely Harry", said Mrs Granger, "I spoke to a friend from university who was studying law. It doesn't matter at all that she didn't invite them in, if they had a phone call calling them there for an emergency, then they had every right to go to the house, and anything they happened to see while there is legit, as far as the law is concerned*", She looked at her husband, apparently hoping for some support.

Harry found out why a few seconds later when Mr Granger spoke up, "The problem is, when we told Jean the light version of why Harry was living with us, we had no reason not to use the name Dursley."

"Jean?" Harry asked.

"My Nan. Mum's mum", Hermione filed in.

"So...she knows everything?"

"No, but she has guessed that Marge is related to your uncle. We said we don't know. Mum can be like a dog with a bone sometimes. She will probably ask you."

Harry really couldn't find it in himself to be upset. After all, they were letting him live with them, and obviously Hermione's gran would've asked why, and it was better that she knew the truth, rather them a lie, "that's alright Mrs Granger, I'm such a bad liar, it would have probably come out pretty quickly anyway, Don't worry about it."

A look came across Mrs Granger's face as Harry said those words, and to him, it seemed that she was upset that he wasn't angry at her, but that made absolutely no sense. "Harry dear, I think Mrs Granger is a little too formal at this point. Why don't you try calling me Emma."

He was a little taken aback by the gesture, "um...are you sure? It's just-"

She cut him off, "yes, I'm sure."

She then elbowed her husband, "Uh? Oh yeah, and call me Dan."

"Um, but what should I call your...mum?" Harry first looked at Mrs Gr-_Emma,_ then Hermione, who was giggling uncontrollably at the awkwardness of the conversation for Harry, "What is her last name? Hermione just called her Nan when she talked to me", he asked.

"Call her Ms Richards. At least, until she tells you otherwise."

"How much do you think i will have to tell her?"

"That's up to you Harry. I love Gran, but she doesn't have the right to force you to tell her about _them_", the venom and disdain dripped from Hermione's voice as she referenced _them_.

"Hermione is right Harry, you can just say you aren't comfortable talking about something. And honestly, that's going to be easier than talking about where your sleeping."

Harry was confused, "Where am I sleeping?"

Hermione got an embarrassed look on her face, turning bright red, "Um...sorry, I forgot to tell you. Nan needs to use the guest room. She can't share with me because my hairband might slip. There is the cat hair problem and she can't know about my magic problem. So...you will be sharing my room, on a fold-out bed. We can change in the bathroom, and it's not like we haven't slept in the same room, or even the same bed before."

Harry froze, positive that Mr Granger may kill him this holiday. He looked at the man, ready to run. Mr granger looked back at him, and as though he sensed the fear in his eyes, he smiled reassuringly at him, "Calm down Harry. Hermione told us about her nightmares. Just promise me one thing, you two. Don't do anything that you wouldn't do in front of us", he indicated Emma and himself.

Harry was just about to agree, but Hermione jumped in to tease her dad, "Maybe...how about we promise till the end of the day?"

"How about you promise until you are twenty-one?"

"Next hour?"

"Till your 30?

"15 minutes?"

"How about till you go back to school!?" Emma jumped in, as she knew what her daughter and husband could be like when they got going like this.

"Just no grandkids till you finish university. Or the magical equivalent", Mr Granger added.

Harry sat there uncomfortably, his face as red as a quaffle, He wished the car seat would just swallow him, if only so that he could avoid this conversation.

"Mostly, the Magical world works on an apprentice system. There just isn't enough people for a university. The only exception is Healers and Aurors. For everyone else, they either go straight into work as a job apprentice, or you find a witch or wizard that will help you get a mastery in a discipline. A mastery is our equivalent to a PhD, most of our teachers have a mastery in the subject they teach."

Harry sat listening as Hermione described further education in the Magical world, but he wasn't really paying attention. He was thinking about what Dan had said about grandkids. The idea of getting Hermione pregnant was a...complicated thought, but not a particularly unwelcome one. But they would definitely wait a while longer. However, the idea of kids, It really did appeal to him.

**Author's Notes:**

_,*The law. I actually checked with a family member who has a law degree. While what tonks did was illegal. But because of the call, she made to 999 (the British version of 911) the police had a legitimate reason to be on the farm. Once there they would have to leave if duersly told them to unless they had reasonable suspicion that a crime was in progress. A woman screening for help definitely qualifies. While it is weird that they never found the women screaming for help. Most of the cops and the prosecutors just assumed it as one of the kids and the kid is too scared to say it was them. So yes the police do have a legitimate case. Mrs Granger is just not verry good with the law and is explains it badly (goddamnit Jim I'm a doctor not a blood-sucking parasite[lawer])_

_There were 3 suggestions for names _

_Soto73 - Jean_

_Barmy-old-Codger - Roberta 'Berti' Richardson_

_Seros109 - Abigail_

_I went with jean because it Hermione's middle name and i like the suggestion that it's a family name. And i went with Ritcherds a shorter version of Richardson because I'm a little lazy and it was the only last name suggested. And I decided that Abigail is a good name for a side character in next week's chapter _

_Thank you to all for your suggestions _


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Harry lay in bed listening to Hermione's soft breathing from the other side of the room as she slept. He was thinking about everything that had happened since he'd met Ms Richards yesterday.

They had arrived back at the Grangers' at about 8 o'clock, with the usual bags of takeaway, as was traditional when Hermione came home from Hogwarts. Normally, it was one of Hermione's favourites, such as pizza or an Indian dish, however, in defence to Ms Richards, who didn't particularly like those things, they had picked up Chinese instead.

Dinner was a little awkward for Harry, as Hermione was understandingly more focused on her nan, telling her all she could about her last few years at school. Some of Hermione's modifications about school where interesting; like Harry saving Hermione from a 'big stray dog' instead of a troll, or Hermione being sick in the Hospital Wing when Harry had refused to let her spend Christmas alone, and instead had stayed with her reading.

While she had obviously been talking him up at some points, Hermione wanted her nan to approve of Harry, but every time she pulled him into the conversation, Harry felt that he was cutting into the limited time the two of them had together. As such, he tended to redirect the talk back to Hermione and her Nan, letting them talk while he ate in relative silence. The way Harry saw it, he would have Hermione all to himself again when they got back to Hogwarts.

Now, Harry was wondering about today, as he had to pop to Gringotts to get some Muggle money to buy a few Christmas presents that he couldn't get in the Magical world. He also had to get cover gifts for the Granger's.

He had gotten Hermione and her parents magical presents, but most of them couldn't be unwrapped around Ms Richards. Hermione's muggle present would be the easiest, considering that he needed to buy her some Muggle accessories to go with her magical present anyway. He also wanted to get something for Daphne and Tracey, who had helped him find out that the Muggle type of item was compatible with the wizarding verity he had gotten Hermione for christmas.

But there was no way Mr or Mrs Granger, or Dan and Emma as he was slowing getting to know them as, would let Harry go alone.

Should he ask Hermione to go with him? On one hand, Hermione was better at this sort of shopping than him and she probably wanted to get a few presents herself. Though, on the other, Hermione may want to spend the day with her family and do her shopping another time.

Hermione shifted in her bed, indicating to Harry that she would be awake soon. When she'd shared his bed for the first week after half term, back when neither of them had been having happy dreams, Harry had learned a little about her sleeping patterns, and Hermione would always start moving before she woke up. Then again, Harry didn't have anyone else to compare her sleeping habits to. He just didn't care enough about his dorm mates to notice how they slept. Well, apart from Ron, who he didn't need to observe to know he snores _really _loudly. For all he knew, everyone moved about more in their sleep before they woke up.

"Harry?" Hermione had woken up.

"Morning sleepy head", _God, she is cute_, Harry thought as her looked at her yawning face. Her normally bushy hair looked like it had been plugged in to an electricity socket, and she still had that dazed, sleepy look to her face. Not the type of sleepy she got when she had been reading for 12 hours and was using wit sharpening potions and coffee to stay awake, like she tended to get around exam time, but the warm, cuddly kind that she got when she was more relaxed. Harry noticed she was usually like when they curled up in front of the fire in the gryffindor common room..

"Not sleepy, it's just early."

"Sleep well?"

"Amazing", she grinned at him, "I always sleep well when you are close."

That in turn made Harry smile widely, "I was thinking, we could get our Christmas shopping mostly done today, if you like, then you can spend the rest of the week catching up with your nan."

Hermione frowned slightly, "Sounds good, but I'm not going to ditch you for the whole week Harry."

"It's Ok 'Mione. You don't get to see her often. I get you all to myself while we are at school."

"Harry, it's _Christmas_. I want to spend time with _all four_ of you. So no running off and brooding."

"I'm a wizard 'Mione. I need to brood, it's in the union manual. Do you want to see me pulled in front of the council of crotchety old men because I haven't done enough brooding?"

Hermione tried not to laugh, but Harry's delivery had been perfect; and now in her head were images of Dumbledore, Disney's Merlin and Gandalf, all sat in a dark room berating poor Harry for not brooding enough. Once the visual manifested inside her head she let out a real laugh.

Not a giggle, but a full-on side-splitter, "O-oh my god Harry!" She managed to get out eventually.

Hermione's door opened, and Ms Richards poked her head around the door, "Everything Ok in here? You two behaving yourselves?" The worry was clear on her face as her eyes darted back and forth between the two beds, each containing its own teen.

"Naaan! Harry and I promised we wouldn't do anything...anything that we wouldn't do if mum and dad, or you, were in the room. Harry just said something funny is all."

"Ok Ok…I just worry is all, I remember what it's like being a teen. I get to worry about my favourite granddaughter sometimes, especially if she happens to be sharing a room with a teen boy."

"I'm your only granddaughter though."

"Then you know it's true!" Ms Richards stated, with the confidence of someone who had just won an argument, even though she really hadn't.

"Hermione, your parents had to go in to the surgery today, and they've already left, so what do you want for breakfast?"

"If you like Ms Richards, you and Hermione could spend a bit of time together while I make breakfast?" Harry offered.

"I don't know...can you cook?"

Hermione giggled, "Nan, over the summer, Harry taught _mum _a few things when it comes to cooking."

Ms Richards raised an eyebrow at Harry, who further explained, "I've been cooking since I was seven. I picked up a few things." Harry tried to keep it light, but he saw Hermione's face darken momentarily at the thought of _why _he had to cook since he was seven.

"Anyway, you two go have a chat and I will see what I can whip together. Maybe you can convince Hermione to let me teach her next summer", He winked at Hermione, grabbed the clothes he had set out yesterday and disappeared into the bathroom to change, leaving her with her Nan.

Harry had tried to get Hermione to learn to cook from him over the summer, but she was convinced that she was a disaster in the kitchen, if it was anything more complicated than pouring milk into cereal. It had taken Harry almost a week to convince her that he didn't think she needed to learn just because she was a girl.

He knew there were people who thought like that, but Harry was of the opinion that it was probably better if everyone could feed themselves, and while most people could probably make simple dishes, it would be better if they could cook something tastier. Hermione had liked that argument a lot better than the idea that girls should cook because it's _women's work_, but it still wasn't enough to get her to try in the kitchen.

Once Harry was dressed, he went to see what the Granger's had available for making breakfast. The answer was not a lot, it seemed that they hadn't had time to pick up groceries yet.

There was, however, the usual that most people always had; flour, milk, sugar and eggs, and they even had a few bananas.

That gave him an idea, and he promptly set to work making American style pancakes* with caramelized bananas.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry and Hermione were approaching the Skinners arms; they had been running around all morning getting what they needed for Christmas. First it had been a visit to Gringotts to get some money from Harry's vault. Then, it was being dragged around London as Hermione tried to get as much done before lunch as possible.

Now they were meeting Ms Richards for lunch. It had been almost impossible to leave the house without her this morning. When Hermione had told her about her and Harry's plan to do a bit of Christmas shopping, Ms Richards had thought it a fantastic idea and wanted to come along. Harry did suspect that she was only coming to make sure the two of them 'behaved' though...

Either way, her presence would have been fine, if only Harry hadn't needed to visit Gringotts first.

Harry somehow doubted that the ol' '_I need to go to a secret bank that you cannot see, so do you mind waiting for me in this odd part of London while I go do that?'_ would have worked well. He just couldn't think of a way to ask the woman not to come, nor could he see a way to get at his gold, meaning all of Harry's gift plans were going up in smoke.

It was Hermione who pulled it out of the fire. She had claimed to need the morning to buy her Nan's Christmas presents. It had been tight, but they had managed to get out of Diagon Alley and find Ms Richards a few presents.

The pub was almost exactly as Harry remembered it from the summer, the only difference being that they'd put up a small Christmas tree in one corner of the main bar, and had draped the railings in red and green tinsel.

Hermione's Nan hadn't arrived yet, so she got a table while Harry grabbed them something to drink. He stopped short just before the bar, trying to remember what Hermione had to drink last time she was here. If they were in the wizarding world, Harry would know exactly what to buy her, but here in the world of fizzy drinks, he wasn't sure at all.

He relaxed when he saw the familiar face of Michael behind the bar, "Well, if it isn't Mr Harry. Welcome back. Is Hermione home for Christmas then?"

"Yeah, we just got back to London yesterday. We've been doing a bit of Christmas shopping. We arranged to meet Hermione's grandmother here, grab a spot of lunch, then do some more shopping. I'll take a coke, and whatever Hermione normally has."

"One coke and one R White's*. You don't know what Hermione drinks?" He asked as he started filling the glasses up with those drinks.

Harry thought of the excuse that he had planned in his head, hoping it sounded feasible, "The school we go to has a complete ban on fizzy drinks. Ànd, I don't think I've ever seen a bottle of pop at the Granger's either. I think the last time I saw Hermione with a fizzy drink was here, actually."

"Fair point. Dan always takes teeth _very _seriously. Your table ready to order yet?"

"Na, we're still waiting on Ms Richards to get here."

"You paying for the drinks now, or shall I open a tab for your table?"

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. It was an old, beaten up bit of leather that was held together by tape and hope, but did the job, barely. Harry extracted the needed Muggle money and handed it over to Micheal, "Don't really know what's happening with lunch yet, so best pay for these separately."

Harry bid farewell to Micheal and took the drinks over to the four person table that Hermione had chosen, one with a good view of the front door. He set the lemonade drink in front of Hermione and took the seat next to her. She murmured her thanks and the two got to discussing what presents they still needed to buy. Mostly, they were looking for things for Hermione's family, as their magical friends had been bought magical gifts. There were a few mundane gifts Harry and Hermione had still wanted to get a few people.

A cool wind blew through the pub as the door was opened for a few seconds. Hermione smiled and started waving to her Nan, who had just entered. Ms Richards went to the bar and got herself a drink, before joining them at the table.

"This is a nice pub Hermione, how do you know about it?"

"Its owned by the family of an old friend of dad's. So he used to bring me here after we had been to the library."

Ms Richards gave an appraising nod as she looked around the bar, "It's nice, how's the food here?"

"It's good", Harry replied, fondly remembering his meal here, though it wasn't truly the food that he remembered…

They ordered lunch and chatted for a bit, when the waitress brought the food; a ham and cheese panini for harry, a club sandwich for Ms Ritcherds and a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel for Hermione. Once she had delivered the food, the waitress started ringing. She had one of those new flip phones that were becoming popular. It was a pity such modern tech had trouble around magic, or Harry would have considered getting Hermione one for christmas. He knew she would love to be able to talk to her mother on the phone while she was away at school.

"Harry _honey, _do you want to tell me why you are _staring _at the waitress!?" Hermione stressed the words _honey_ and _staring_, while trying not to sound too annoyed at Harry.

"What? Oh, _no_, I was looking at her phone...the charm on it", there _was _a charm hanging from the waitress' phone that Harry could see clearly as she talked to whoever had called her.

"Her phone charm?"

Harry glanced at Ms Richards, wondering how he could explain what he was thinking. Now that he was paying attention, he could see what was going through Hermione's head, seeing him staring avidly at another girl. He quickly started explaining, "I was thinking about my project...the one for professor Babbling. If I put the..._circuitry_ in an external bit, like that charm, it would stop it interfering with the main component", he didn't use any words that would give away what he was really thinking, not covering a wand with Runes. He hoped that Hermione would understand what he meant, without Ms Richards knowing.

She looked a little confused for a few seconds, then her eyes lit up as she got it, "Harry, that's brilliant! Sorry...it looked like you where-"

"I'm sorry 'Mione. I can see now how it must have looked, I promise you, I was looking at the phone charm, you know I wouldn't do that to you."

"I should hope not", Ms Richards added."

The three of them continued to enjoy their lunch. Hermione seemed to have accepted Harry at his word, as she did seem to have a knack for telling when he was lying, though Ms Richards didn't seem quite as ready to trust him as Hermione was. Throughout the rest of the meal, Ms Richards gave Harry some not-so-covert glances, obviously watching to see if his eyes strayed back to the waitress, or to any other girl apart from Hermione.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry was sat in the waiting room of Granger and Granger dental surgery. Dan was just finishing up with his second-to-last patient for the day. It wouldn't have bothered Harry in the slightest if that patient _was _last, as he happened to be in that current position.

Hermione, Emma and Ms Richards had gone out for lunch together, just the three of them, and with Dan covering the last shift in the surgery before it closed for Christmas, it had been decided that Harry would, instead of being left in the house alone, be at the surgery, using Dan and Emma's office to do his homework. Then, he was to be the last patient of the day.

If Harry was honest, it didn't bother him that much that he was alone. He was doing the same thing at the surgery that he would be doing at home without Hermione there; sitting at a table, doing his homework while listening to the radio, though he thought he might have chosen a different station himself. Unfortunately, Dan apparently liked 80s pop, and had chosen a station to suit just that.

If it was just homework, Harry would be completely fine, but instead his thoughts were being brought back to the fact that in a few minutes, Dan was about to start playing around in his mouth. He wasn't stupid, he knew that dentists were docters and that they did what they do to help people, but he just couldn't get the image of someone drilling his teeth out of his head.

He also knew that by his age, a lot of people had a filling, it was impossible to date Hermione and not know a bit more about teeth than most people. And those people who had fillings had probably been to the dentist a lot, and had taken better care of their teeth for they whole lives, where as Harry had only really started to take care of his teeth when Hermione had started...well, _nagging _him about it.

Nagging sounded so harsh in Harry's head, after all he didn't mind one bit, but it was the only word he could think of to describe how Hermione went on to him about his teeth.

"Harry, we're ready for you", Abigail, the nurse that worked for the Grangers', poked her head around the door.

"Ok, I'm coming", Harry packed up his homework in an old backpack he had borrowed from Hermione, before following Abigail into the treatment room Dan used. The room was mostly white and chrome, giving it a clean and clinical appearance, there was a workbench along one wall, with some covers above and below. There were all manners of things Harry didn't even begin to recognise, all laid out across the bench. Some of the tools he could probably guess at a use for, but there were others that he had absolutely no clue about.

In the center of the room was a big chair that Harry presumed was were the patient sat while they were being worked on. There was an odd looking lamp on an arm that positioned it directly above the chair.

"Hello Harry, did you make some progress on your homework?" Dan asked as he indicated to Harry to sit in the chair.

"Uh, yeah, though Hermione is probably going to read it and tell me about half of it is wrong", Harry latched onto the topic of homework as he attempted to delay the moment when his teeth would be inspected for as long as possible.

He wasn't _scared_, definitely not, just anxious, was all.

"Well, if you don't want Hermione telling you how much you got wrong, you should try getting it right the first time", Dan teased him, while Abigail was behind Harry, doing something he couldn't see.

"Right, let's see if there is anything wrong with your chompers. Head back, and open wide, and no biting", the next few minutes were filled with Dan's gloved fingers and dental tools in Harry's mouth; poking, prodding and examining every single tooth in his mouth. That was then followed by Dan scraping his teeth with another tool and finally giving them a brush. Harry thought that that last part was a bit too far, as he could brush his teeth himself at home. He didn't argue with Dan, though. He _was _the dentist after all, so he probably knew best.

Once Harry had his mouth rinsed out, Dan sent Abigail to finish up the last of the paperwork for the day, and sat Harry down to talk to him, "All in all, your teeth are good; no cavities or chips, and you won't need braces or anything like that", Harry breathed out a sigh of relief, that had been what he was dreading, the idea that he would need work done on his teeth. The idea of that was terrifying to him.

Dan wasn't done though, "However, it was clear that you had never been to a dentist before; you had a large build up of solid plaque around the base of your teeth. That was why I had to scrape your teeth, so I could remove it. There is one thing. I'm curious about what was under the plaque; your teeth are in far better condition than they should be, do you have any idea as to why?"

Harry thought about that. Why _were _his teeth in such good condition? He knew that he had had a few pains in them in the past, Hermione had even recommended he try a toothpaste for sensitive teeth in their first year. So didn't that suggest that there had been something wrong with them at one time?

He wondered if his teeth could've been healed once he had started brushing properly, especially after Hermione had started lecturing him about it. But according to Hermione, teeth don't just _heal, _at least, not without magical intervention. But that couldn't be the case, as Harry had never gone to Madam Pomfrey about his teeth.

Hermione had told him once how to fix teeth magically, but he couldn't remember a time when he had ever used that, not to fix his teeth at least. But...maybe it had fixed his teeth without him noticing?

"Um...I think they might have been worse at one point, but there is..." Harry looked around to make sure Abigail was out of ear shot, "...there is a potion that is supposed to help fix teeth. It's called skello-gro, it's mainly used to help repair broken bones or even regrow them. Last year, one of my professors accidentally vanished all the bones in my arm when he tried to fix a break in one of them. Don't worry, he was a bloody idiot. I told him I would rather go to the school nurse, I have way more confidence in her abilities, I'm so glad that that professor doesn't teach there anymore. Anyway, to regrow the bones in my arm, the school nurse gave me a dose of skello-gro. So, while it was regrowing all the bones in my arm over the course of one night, not an experience I would recommend by the way, I think it may have fixed my teeth."

Dan sat there, shaking his head in disbelief at what he'd just heard, "I'm glad magic is secret, cause if it wasn't, I would be out of a job. At least it explains why your teeth are as good as they are, given your history, I would have expected a lot worse. Anyway, let's close this place down and get out of here, we can pop to the supermarket and grab some sandwiches for our late lunch and do some grocery shopping."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione was sitting in a nice restaurant with her mum and nan, a tradition that the three of them have had ever since Hermione was old enough to come to a restaurant like this and behave properly. It was nice being out, just the girls. While she loved her father and Harry, they just didn't get some things like her mum and nan did.

Currently, she was listening to her nan as she told them about life outside of the city. Her nan had lived in london her entire life, but a few months before Hermione had gone to Hogwarts, she had taken ill, nothing too worrying, but she had been forced to give up her job. After weighing up her options, she had decided early retirement was the best choice, only, she couldn't afford to live in the city and had sold her London house, which was not far from where the Grangers' lived, and had moved to the suburbs.

Retirement had not suited her nan well _at all_, and while a job was too much to manage along with her health, she had started volunteering to fill her time. She was just finishing telling them about how she was now the treasurer for her local WI.*

"So, after they heard that I used to work as an accountant, they practically begged me to take a look at their books. They are nice women, but their books were a complete mess, it took me two weeks of ringing around and bagering everyone, just to get all the receipts and information I needed to find out who had access to the accounts.

_Then_, another two weeks to make heads or tails out of it. In the end, I decided that I should take over the finances or it will just get out of hand again. But after I found that £300 that they had forgotten about in the old account, they were more than willing to let me handle it from now on."

Hermione's nan stopped talking for a second to take a bite of her chicken, "I can't blame them too much, none of them are trained in accountancy, nor could they have afforded to hire one at market price. It's a long way from the 30 or so small businesses I used to do the accounts for, but it's keeping me from going crazy. So, how about you love?" She indicated to Hermione's mum, "how are things going at your dental surgery?"

Her mum finished her bit of salmon before answering, "Everything's going well, we have a full client list, and a few people on a waiting list to use our surgery, so work is ticking over. We are looking into replacing some of our equipment, actually; new drills and a few other things. We just need to find a good supplier."

"I thought you already had a supplier lined up before I went to school?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, about that...we found out something about that company, so we won't be using them", her mum answered cryptically.

"What did you find out?"

Emma considered for a few moments what she should say; Hermione wasn't the type who wanted or needed coddling, but still…

In the end she went with honesty, "we found out who the CEO of the company is."

"Who?" Hermione and her nan asked at the same time.

"It's...Harry's uncle", the statement hung in the air as the other two started putting the meaning together in their heads.

"You mean the uncle you told me about, love? The one with the sister in the news?" Hermione's nan asked; she had only gotten that much from Harry during the shopping trip, that and the fact of Harry not knowing about the children. But, he hadn't been surprised that Marge Dursley could and _would _treat children that way. Harry hadn't said that she had treated him similarly, but that hadn't been enough to prevent her from putting it together herself.

"Yes, and as you can imagine, we don't exactly want to put any money in his hands."

"I should bloody hope not", Hermione didn't swear very often, and her nan was a little surprised by her crude language, "that man deserves a lot of things, but money is definitely not one of them."

"Quite right kitten. Your dad is looking to blacklist the company throughout the network our surgery is in", her mother felt her daughter's venomous vendetta for the man.

"He's not talking about Harry, is he? Harry isn't a fan of people gossiping about him", Hermione was more than a little worried that Harry's private life was the topic of gossip once again. It didn't sound like a lot to have people talking about you, but she had seen what it was like for Harry; everywhere he went, people were always staring and whispering. And that was when he was just Harry, when he was Harry, the heir of Slytherin, it had gotten so bad that Hermione had come up with the polyjuice plan, and look how _that _ended up. Not that she didn't have selfish reasons to stop muggle-borns being attacked.

"No dear, your father is being as vague as he possibly can. He's telling them he can't talk because of patient confidentiality. And, with Harry at the surgery today, that is now more true than it ever was."

"Hermione, dear..." her nan softened her tone, setting Hermione on edge, as she knew her nan was about to ask her a difficult question, "About Harry…Are you sure that it's a good idea to date him?"

"What do you mean Nan!? Why would it _not _be a good idea to be with Harry?" Hermione's tone was ice-cold.

"After everything that happened to him...Isn't he, for lack of a better term, _damaged goods_? I don't mean to be harsh, as this will sound, but I've heard of people who went through stuff like that before. They don't learn how to be normal when they are young. They don't _end up_ normal. Are you sure it won't become a problem in the future? I don't want you being hurt because of all this."

Hermione was shocked, angry and more than a little disappointed. Shocked that her Nan would say stuff like about anyone, angry at her for saying something like that about Harry. But it was the disappointment that hit her the hardest, because she didn't know if she was disappointed in her Nan, or disappointed in _herself_. Why didn't her Nan trust her judgment? Hermione had known Harry for over two years now. If anyone knew Harry, it was her, right?

"Nan I know Harry.

Is he perfect? No. but, harry's problems don't make him dangerous to anyone but himself." the older women gasped a little at that. "I don't mean he will hurt himself like that but… if Harry thinks that someone will be hurt by something he will try and keep them from being hurt even if he is hurt instead. He has become so used to pain that he just accepts that he should be the one hurt. So Nan you are right Harry didn't learn to be normal when he was growing up. But he did learn how to be Harry and that's pretty amazing if you ask me."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Author's Notes:**

American style pancakes. British pancakes are more like crepes

R. White's Lemonade is a brand of fizzy lemonade sold in the UK. They used to have an ad slogan about 'secret lemonade drinkers' Hermione drinking this lemonade while away from her parents is a bit of a play on that ad

I just had dan do a few of the things my dentist has had to do to my teeth. if I got anything wrong drop me a note and I will look into fixing it. I have read a few fics where the grangers look at harry teeth and suddenly he has to visit them a lot and get things fixed. I didn't want to have Harry have to be popping back to London once a month somehow and he never had trouble in cannon even if i think he should have. my understanding is malnourishment can have a bad effect on teeth so in my version the dose of skello-gro harry took fixed his teeth. this is one of the things I had planned from the very start. if you go back and reread chapter three you will see that harry mentons Hermione's lectures on teeth and the use of skello grow then.

*WI stands for women's institute they organise in to local chapters and are a social club that mixes women's right's activism and women's interest in entertainment. there tends to be a lot of older women in them so the women intrest entertainment can sometimes be a little behind the times, or at least that's the impression I got from members of the local WI i have spoken to in my life. (as a male you can understand i have never been to such a group so my information is hearsay)

So my mother got married Saturday, as you can guess my life was hectic for a while there. That is one of the main reasons that there was no chapter last week as this one is so late the next one won't be this Wednesday but the Wednesday after.


	26. Chapter 26 - It's christmas

Hey guys I can't believe I have over 300 people who have followed this. It almost as hard to believe as the fact that I have already written over 100'000 words. I know it's not really that much since I started writing this just over five months ago, however for me it is an astonishing amount.

I love reading all your comments and reviews and know even if I don't reply I do read every single one. Knowing that you are reading this is great motivation for me to keep writing.

I will be posting a bit more sporadically for a bit my family business always has a lot more work from now till Christmas and my beta's teachers are piling on the homework so it's a bit harder to get the updates out.

I do need to ask you all a question. This fic will span multiple years at Hogwarts do you want me to post watch year as a separate fic or would you prefer it stayed in one fic?

Once more I want to thank my beta Matty who is amazing at taking what I type and making it readable. Matty you absolutely amazing. Even if your homework made this update a little late.

**Chapter 26 - It's Christmas**

Harry slipped out of bed, being careful not to make a sound. The last thing he wanted was to wake anyone right now. He slipped over to his trunk, and, as quietly as he could, popped the lid on one of the compartments and withdraw three packages, each wrapped in brightly coloured paper. The largest he carried across the room and placed on Hermione's bedside cabinet, where there was a good chance it would be the first thing she saw when she woke up.

That was the easy part. Now came the tricky one; he slipped out of the room, carrying two more extensively colourful packages. As he crept down the upstairs hall, he wondered if he was being silly. He had walked this hall a few times in the middle of the night without worrying so much about being quiet. He'd lived here for almost exactly a month before he had gone to Hogwarts. In that time, he had gotten up in the middle of the night a few times, mostly to visit the bathroom, and he had done that without disturbing anyone, yet now, all he could think about was being as quiet as he could while he played Santa.

He reached Emma and Dan's door and hesitated. He had never been in there before. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen inside though, hell, one of the first things he had done when he had first awoken here was to try every door as he tried to figure out where he was. And Hermione's parents often left the door wide open when the room was empty or they weren't in need of privacy.

But Harry wasn't going into the room. At least, not entirely. There was a table right next to the door that he could leave the presents on. As quietly as he could, he slipped open the door and went to place the presents on the table, when he saw two more presents already there, both of them bearing the type of wrapping that, like his own, was far more common in the magical world than the Muggle.

Hermione had obviously shared the same idea as him. He put his packages down next to the ones that were already there, before slowly closing the door. He wondered how Hermione had managed to slip out of the room before him, he was sure that he had lain awake listening for everyone to be asleep, so how she had managed to deliver her parents their presents first was baffling to him. If it wasn't for the fact that it was illegal for them to cast spells outside of school, he would have suspected a silencing charm.

Harry crept back down the hall to the room he was currently sharing with Hermione. That fact frustrated him immensely; being _so close_ to Hermione was getting him a little worked up, and, unfortunately, sharing a room with her had meant that any kind of relief was just not happening.

He slipped into the room and back over to his bed, and promptly froze. Next to his bed, in an almost exact mirror of how he'd placed Hermione's, was a present, waiting for him to open later in the morning. How had he missed that when he had gotten up? He must have been so focused on delivering his own presents that he missed it.

He climbed back into his bed and settled in, taking off his glasses and placing them on his trunk, next to the present Hermione had gotten him, before he rolled over and went to sleep.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Ron woke up when a pillow hit him in the face. The sudden jolt to wakefulness left him more than a little dazed and confused. He thrashed around for a few seconds as he waited for his brain to catch up, then he looked around to see his little sister standing there, laughing at him, "Wake up bro. It's Yule."

"Yule?"

"Yes, you know, _Yule_. Held at the start of winter. Lots of food and _presents..._"

"Presents?" Right then, his brain finally clocked on, "Presents!"

He looked to the foot of his head and saw, with wide eyes, the fairly large stack of neatly wrapped parcels that were _his _gifts. Then, Ginny pulled the case off the pillow she had thrown at him, and proceeded to stuff all Ron's presents into it.

"Hey", he all but shouted, "Those are mine! What gives!?"

Ginny looked at him, giving him that same look his mum always gave him, "You, me, Fred, George and Percy are going to open our gifts together. As a _family_." Ron decided to let her; sometimes it was just easier to give in.

"Now get your clothes on", She threw a clean set of his clothes at him, then walked out with his presents.

He quickly got dressed into his clothes; The top was just a thin, worn t-shirt, and he considered going in his trunk for a jumper* but decided against it. His mum always made them each a jumper that they all wore for the day. It was a tradition he had expected to be dropped at Hogwarts, but his brothers were always insistent that the tradition continues.

He climbed down the stairs to the common room, and found that his sister and brothers where all sat on the floor by the fire, each with a red Gryffindor pillow case in front of them, all stuffed with gifts. His own bag was in a space left for him between Ginny and Percy.

He took his place on the floor with his family and began tearing into his presents along with the rest of them.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

An hour later, Ron found himself with a new Weasley jumper in maroon from his parents. Or, from his mum, as he knew she was the one who made them, as his dad couldn't sew to save his life.

He also got a box of Hagrid's home-made rock cakes, two boxes of chocolate frogs, one each from Bill and Charlie, a new quill from Percy, a selection box of Honeydukes sweets from Fred and George, a hat and gloves from Ginny, who had apparently, and unfortunately, been learning knitting charms from their mum.

Hermione had sent each of them a homework organiser that said motivational phrases every time someone opened it, and Harry had sent them all a selection of Muggle chocolate from a company called Cadburys*.

All in all, he'd gotten a pretty good haul this year. Now, he just had to find Scabbers; that rat loved Hagrid's rock cakes.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Tracy woke up when she felt her mattress suddenly indent, only to find that Daphne had collapsed onto the bed beside her.

"Uh, what's got you all excited this morning?" Tracy asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"I get to spend Yule with you, instead of sitting through another lecture from my uptight mother. Now, get up, I'm waiting on you before opening any presents, and it seems we each got an _interesting _one that is driving me crazy", she held up two almost identically wrapped squares of green paper, about a foot on each side.

"I see...so you only want me up, so _you _can open up your presents?" she grinned at her friend, who she knew all too well.

"_Of course_, why else would I care?" her tone equally frivolous as she draped herself across her friend.

Tracy snatched one of the green presents from Daphne, hoping she had taken hers. Luck was on her side; a tag on one corner of the wrapping holding the words _'To Tracy, Merry Christmas'_. The handwriting was familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. So, instead of pontificating over who could have sent her the gift, something her Slytherin parents always told her to do, as the present could be "dangerous", she just opened it straight away.

Inside was an item and a letter. She recognised the item as a Muggle vinyl record, having seen a couple that the muggleborns of the school kept. Seeing this, she gained a heavy suspicion on who the presents were from. She opened the letter and gave it a read;

_Hey Tracy,_

_Thanks again to you and Daphne for helping me just before Christmas. I went ahead and got Hermione the gift I had planned. After all your talk about music, I thought you might like to try listening to some Muggle types. So I got you a record that has as some of the more popular music._

_Merry Christmas,_

_From Harry_

After a swift examination, the record seemed to be a certain '_Queen's greatest hits'_.

As Tracy opened her present, Daphne did the same on the other side of Tracy's bed, and once they had both finished reading their own letters and looked at their own records, they switched gifts to see the other's.

Daphne's letter was almost identical to hers, and the only real difference in their presents was that Daphne have been given a record by an artist called 'Madonna'.

"Well, that seems friendly enough, don't you think?" Tracy asked Daphne.

"Yeah it's friendly. Doubt the music will be any good though."

"You can be _such _a magical snob sometimes Daph."

Daphne recoiled from her friend, "I'm no blood snob; you should know me better than that!" She was glad Parkinson, Bulstrode and the other Slytherin girls in their dorm had gone home for Christmas. If they hadn't, there was no way she could say that so freely.

"Calm down, Daph, I didn't say you are a blood purist. I know you better than that", Daphne relaxed, thankful that she had such a good friend in Tracy.

"But…" said friend continued, "you have to admit that you seem to be of the opinion that something is only worthwhile if a magical person did it."

That comment hit a little close to the mark for Daphne. She did believe that witches and wizards could do things better than Muggles, it made sense, didn't it?

People who are able to do magic can accomplish things muggles could only dream of, so surely if muggles did something, there is no way it could be as good as if, say, she or Tracy did?

Tracy wasn't done, however, "You know, that may be true for a lot of things, but art is different. Magic can only help us create what is already in our heads. But that..._spark_, the one that makes a book bring you to tears, or makes a bit of music catchy...that is only magic in a poetic sense. Muggles may have to work longer to bring that spark out to the world, but they love music just as much as any of us magical folk do."

Daphne sat there listening to her friend, who was right of course. It disturbed her, just how easily she had fallen in to thinking like _that_. The problem was...she wasn't sure she was _wrong_. At least, not completely. She didn't hate Muggles, but how fulfilled could their lives be, when they were constantly struggling to survive without magic?

"Anyway, let's stop this depressing debate. Let's go pop these in to your Gramophone. You go get it, and I'll go get dressed."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry woke up feeling great. He tried to rub the sleep from his eyes, only to find he couldn't move his arm. It was this inability to move that woke him up quickly, albeit in a slightly panicked state, drawing his attention to the weight pressing down onto his side, with a lighter weight draped tight across his stomach, pinning his other arm down.

It was a warm, soft weight, that smelled of apple shampoo, with a faint hint of fresh parchment.

Hermione was snuggled up next to him.

She must've felt Harry try to detach his arm from her vice-like grip, as he felt her shift slightly next to him.

"Merry christmas Harry."

"Morning 'Mione. Merry Christmas. Say, by any chance, could you let me have my arm back?" She blushed as she realised how tightly she was holding him, and quickly released her arm from across him, with a quick muttered "Sorry".

He didn't let her move too far away, as he shifted his arm from its position on his right side and wrapped it round her, in the same fashion that she had earlier, pulling her closer once again, "_Please_ tell me that we can stay like this all day."

She leaned into him and gave him a quick chaste kiss, "Nope. _But, _mum and dad like to sleep in on Christmas. It started a while ago, when I was younger, cause they used to stay up all night so they could pretend Santa brought the gifts. So, we can stay like this for a good while."

"Speaking of your parents, didn't we promise that we _wouldn't _do stuff like this?"

"Nope."

"But-"

"We promised not to do anything that we wouldn't do _in front _of them. We've cuddled together on the sofa, and fallen asleep in front of them at least twice. This is no different. Hell, I'm even technically wearing more now than I was then."

Harry thought on that for a few seconds, happy to mentally visualize Hermione in her thick winter pajamas, as well as what she'd worn over the summer when combating the heat.

He had to agree, though he hadn't really wanted to disagree in the first place. What she was wearing right now was far more modest.

"Ok, you win."

"Oh, and what do I win?"

Harry was a little stumped at her forwardness, and was desperately trying to come up with something he could reply with.

In the end he just asked, "What do you want?"

"I think I already have what I want." And then she leaned in and kissed him again, only this one was a lot less restrained than the first, and Harry found himself a more active participant.

They laid together on the small fold-out bed for almost an hour, relaxing and doing nothing, before, and then, by some unperceivable motive, Hermione jumped up and exclaimed, "time to open our magical presents! You first!" She passed him the present that he had seen on his trunk the night before.

Harry sat up in bed and removed the paper from around the present, revealing a wooden box, not unlike the broomstick servicing kit she had gotten him for his birthday. In fact, the box was so similar that for a second, he thought she'd gotten him a _second _broomstick servicing kit. That was until his brain caught up with what he was seeing.

There was no way Hermione would be absent minded enough to give him the same gift twice. At least, not this close together. But then, what could this be?

"You know, you need to open the box to know what it is", Hermione grinned, watching anxiously as Harry just seemed to stare at the box. This sky-rocketed her worry, as she started to think that Harry didn't like or want his gift.

He did as she said, and found inside the box a tray of quills. Not regular feather quills that they used in class, not even like the nice glass quill he had gotten himself in the summer.

Rather, they had wooden handles, with lots of different metal tips.

Confused, he picked up the tray to see what was under it, as the box was clearly deeper than just the top tray. The next tray rose up to underneath the top tray, and was filled with small chisels that looked super sharp.

Another tray down showed him the third tray, which shouldn't have fit in the box. It had a bunch of tools he didn't recognize.

After the fourth and fifth trays, both of which again held tools he was unfamiliar with, there, at the very bottom, was a book;

**Rune carving guide**

**Parchment, wood, clay, stone and metal**

With the title of the book, he was able to put together what his present was; a rune crafting kit.

Harry hadn't considered how Runes were carved out of things like wood. He had assumed that you would just transfigure the Runes into the object, but now that Harry thought about it, the residual magic from the transfiguration could easily interfere with the Rune effects in more complicated or delicate arrays.

"Wow 'Mione, this is _amazing_. I love it." With just those few words, all of Hermione's worries flew away, "Well, you really seemed to like Runes, and I thought it would help you with your project."

"You are amazing Hermione. I hadn't even thought about how to carve the Runes yet."

In class, they had only worked on parchment so far, and his project had only worked with cloth, which needed the Runes sewn into it. The wand project though would definitely need carved runes.

"What would I do without you?" He pulled her into a side hug as he repacked the kit carefully. While he would love to play with it now, he would have to wait till he got back to Hogwarts, as there were other things to do, and a girlfriend to spend time with.

After unwrapping Harry's gift, they relocated to Hermione's bed, with Harry watching nervously as she unwrapped hers. Similar to Harry's gift, an unwrapping of the paper revealed a wooden box. However, Hermione's box containing her present wasn't nearly as plain as the one Harry had received, and instead was adorned in music symbols and notes, and that weird swirly symbol that was always at the beginning of the line on a musical sheet.

Hermione opened the box, gasping as it revealed a gramophone record player, which grew from the box that seemed far too small to hold it.

"I noticed that you'd been using to Room of Requirement to listen to music as you read. That reminded me of the summer, when you would put on a CD if you were reading. So...I thought you could use a player, which you could use in the dorms or common room."

"Harry, it's _amazing_, I love it! Thank you. But I don't have any magical records to play on it."

"I did some research, and apparently, there is no such thing as a magical record. Not really."

"Of course there are Harry; magical artists like the Weird Sisters and Celestina Walbeck-"

"-Are magical artists who make records. The records themselves are no different than Muggle ones, except for two things; the material they make the records from, as it seems as if a large section of wizarding Britain has no clue what plastic is, and that magical records have unbreakable and have copyright charms on them, keeping them from being damaged and stopping people from duplicating a record without paying for it. The upside is that muggle records will play on your magical gramophone just as well."

"Oh, then I can swipe some of my favourites from mum and dad's vinyl collection."

"And I'm pretty sure that Hedwig can easily carry a few LP's, if you want to switch them out every week when you send home a letter. If you can get your parents to agree to letting you take them, that is."

Hermione tackled Harry onto the bed, pinning him down with a surprising amount of strength for her size. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him one of _those _hugs. That kind of Hermione hug, which always seemed to threaten to crack ribs, squeezing the breath out of whoever she administered them too.

Harry didn't mind though. In fact, he absolutely loved and cherished them, loving how affectionate and expressive Hermione was, especially around him.

After about ten minutes, Hermione released him from captivity. He laid there for a moment, catching his breath, before they started opening the other presents that had somehow, at some point in the night, made it to Hermione's room. They were presents from the Weasleys, Neville and Hagrid.

Harry suspected that one of the Hogwarts elves probably delivered them in the night. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was Dobby who delivered them, as both Harry and Hermione knew how smitten the elf was on Harry.

He smiled at the idea of the house elves playing Santa's elves for the night, wondering if they did it for every student who went home for the holidays.

It looked to Harry and Hermione that they would have to get used to receiving joint presents if they were going to remain a couple, as both Hagrid and Neville had both sent the two of them presents, that were meant to be opened together between the two.

Hagrid had sent them some of his homemade treacle fudge, that neither of them were willing to try until it had been softened; they loved Hagrid, but by Merlin, the man just couldn't cook. Harry was fairly certain that, as dentists, Dan and Emma would faint if they saw the half-giant's rock cakes, cakes that could easily break, and had broken, teeth if you weren't careful.

Meanwhile, Neville had sent them a plant that held a different fragrance to each individual person who smelt it. Hermione said she could smell something vaguely minty, whereas Harry could smell something floral that he couldn't place.

They each had three presents from the Weasleys, or, more accurately, one from the Weasleys as a family, and two more that came from individual Weasleys.

Mrs Weasley, on behalf of the family, had sent Harry another classic Weasley jumper, this time a nice green colour which was almost exactly like his eyes. Hermione, who had only ever met Mrs Weasley in passing, was surprised to receive anything, and smiled as she unwrapped a homemade Christmas cake, along with a nice note wishing her a happy Yuletide.

Harry pulled on his jumper. Mrs weasley really was an expert when it came to knitting, and her jumpers where always incredibly comfortable.

Ron's gift to each of them showed much more thought than normal. Instead of getting them sweets that _he _liked, he seemed to have gone out of his way to find something for each of them. They both unwrapped their gifts from him, revealing books, which was a surprise to the two of them, as they knew first-hand how Ron avoided books, especially study-books, like they were diseased.

They weren't new books, it looked like Ron had picked them up second hand in Hogsmeade, but Harry presumed that Ron didn't have much money he could really spend on gifts, so he was happy that at least his friend had given them a meaningful gift.

Harry had gotten a copy of _Quidditch through the Ages._ There was a note with it that said;

**I know you've read this one, but you seemed to like it, so I thought you would like a copy of your own.**

It wasn't the most heartfelt of notes, but from Ron, it was a lot.

Hermione's book was equally used, by the looks of its slightly peeling cover and tinted colours. The title was _famous Muggle Borns of the 20th century._

Harry idly wondered if his mother was listed, but quickly decided that he didn't want to know.

At least, not today.

The twins had sent Harry a box with six vials of potions. Each one different, the note that came with them explained what each potion did and how it could be used to prank people. According to the twins, the son of Prongs has a 'duty' to start pranking to live up to his father's legacy as a Marauder. Harry was so distracted by the idea of living up to his father's legacy that he completely missed what the twins had given Hermione.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Christmas at the Grangers' was different from any other Christmas Harry had ever seen.

At the Dursleys', Harry was kept in his cupboard until after everyone else had opened their presents. He was then released, only to make breakfast, and once that was done, he helped his aunt in the kitchen making Christmas dinner. Normally, Harry did most of the cooking himself, but at Christmas and with other important meals, his aunt seemed to think he would purposely wreck the dinner just to get back at them.

At Hogwarts, the day started off with presents, though after that, apart from the big Christmas feast, the only real difference between Christmas and any other day without class was that the library was closed and there were decorations in the more commonly traveled parts of the castle.

At the Grangers', breakfast came before presents. Hermione explained that that had started when her nan had still lived in London, they would try and prepare breakfast in time, so that it would be ready when Ms Richards arrived. Then, they would eat breakfast together before getting to the presents.

Even though Ms Richards now was staying in the same house as them over Christmas, they had gotten used to doing Christmas that way, and it had become standard practice in the Granger household.

Harry kind of liked it. It really emphasized the message that Christmas was supposed to be about _family, _rather than presents, which many people he knew focused on. Not just people like his cousin, but even Ron and and the rest of the horde of Weasleys, though he was certain that the twins cared more that they were allowed to get away with their pranks more at Christmas more than any other time.

The next little tradition the Grangers had was that they would draw candy canes (obviously sugar-free ones) to see who got to hand out the presents. Harry had been a little surprised that he was expected to draw one too, but didn't particularly mind that his candy cane was intact, meaning he didn't need to be the one who handed out the gifts under the tree.

They all waited until Dan, who'd gotten the broken candy cane, handed out all the presents, before starting to open them.

Harry was surprised at the size of his pile. He had expected three, possibly four, gifts under the tree, depending on if Dan and Emma bought him separate gifts, or just one joint gift from the both of them.

Instead, there were quite a number of packages addressed to him _'from the Granger's'._

There was a nice bottle of cologne from Ms Richards. It was the type of gift you got for someone when you really didn't know them or know what to get them, but Harry appreciated that Ms Richards had gotten him anything at all.

He had gotten her something similar, a hamper of what Harry thought of as 'girly bath stuff'. Hermione and the shop clerk had agreed on it as a suitable gift, when they had ran around London shopping earlier in the week.

Dan had gotten both Harry and Hermione a windup pocket watch each. Harry thought it was brilliant, but he couldn't say much as to why with Ms Richards there. Analog wrist watches were simple enough electronically, meaning that they worked, mostly, at Hogwarts.

The more complicated the technology, the less it would work around magic; so something simple, like a flashlight, worked fine. However, items a little more complicated, like a wrist watch, worked, but you would need to reset the time on it every few days. Anything more complicated than that, like a radio, wouldn't work at all, and in some cases, there had even been times when muggle electronics had burst into flames from the contact with magic.

Hermione got Harry a nice looking leather wallet. Upon opening the wallet, he found two things in it; a fifty pence piece*, and small hand written note. The note said that once they'd gone back to school, Hermione was going to put some rune work on the wallet for him. He smiled at that.

Hermione gasped as she unwrapped the gift from Harry, revealing what was clearly a box containing jewelry inside. For a mundane gift that could be given to Hermione in front of her Nan, Harry had gotten his girlfriend a gold heart-shaped locket with the letter H engraved on the front.

The next thing Harry knew, he had a faceful of bushy hair in his face as Hermione jumped into his lap from where he sat on the floor, her arms around him, "Thank you Harry, I love it."

Harry had originally intended to get Hermione a few records to go with her gramophone, but when it came to the time to buy them, he realised that he had not a single clue about what records the Grangers' already had.

Dan had tried to tease them, asking if the H stood for Harry or Hermione, but Harry had just said that it stood for whatever Hermione wanted it to stand for. And Hermione told her father in a playful tone that if he didn't stop with his teasing it may just stand for a hex.

Ms richards looked at hermione with a confused expression on her face. It was then that everyone realised that hermione had used a magical term in front of someone who wasn't supposed to know about magic. Emma pulled it back amazingly.

"Oh? And how will you do that? This Is real life not that fantasy book you have been reading recently."

Harry jumped on that line of thought. "I think its cute the last few weekes before school let out she kept threatening to put a spell on me when ever i did something she found annoying. But then christmas is a time of magic maybe we shouldn't tempt fate." harry put a load of over the top dramatic emphasis on the part about tempting fate, emma, dan and hermione laughed but as ms richards didn't laugh harry assumed that the laugh was at least a little forced.

The rest of the presents Harry received were clothes; mostly jumpers and shirts, but the one thing that stood out to him was a thick winter coat.

Something Harry had never had before.

The Dursleys had only ever gotten him cheap, thin, waterproof jackets that were on sale, or had just given him Dudley's old or damaged jackets, which often had gaping holes or were so thoroughly used, that they were little more than scraps of fabric. The only reason they had done that must have been because Dudley was so rough with his jackets that there was no way he was able to wear them.

But, of course, they were _perfectly fine_ for Harry.

Once Harry had gone to Hogwarts, he hadn't had much need for a winter coat. He had a thick winter cloak that he wore at school, which he could now lace with warming charms if needed. Harry tended to use warming charms a lot, as being small and skinny meant that he lost body heat quickly.

When Professor Flitwick had taught them the warming charm about a month ago, Harry had wanted to both throttle him for not teaching them this earlier, and hug him for giving Harry a way to keep warm, rather than wearing multiple layers of clothing that could become very uncomfortable sometimes.

The weather at Hogwarts was unforgiving, due to where it was, and even as Harry was glad of the charm, he really wished the professor had covered them sooner; maybe they should be taught in first-year, so that students could keep themselves warm.

Both Dan and Emma were a little surprised to have another gift from Harry, after they had received one from him that morning. Luckily, Ms Richards did notice the looks they shot Harry as she opened her own gift from him.

Harry had gotten Dan a selection of Whiskeys, while for Emma he had gotten a bottle of wine that Hermione said her mum drank. Ms Richards had helped him buy the drinks when they had gone shopping, as he was obviously under-age and unable to buy alcohol, and even after they'd gotten the gifts, Ms Richards had insisted that she hold on to them until Christmas Eve, rather than leave the alcohol with two teenagers.

The gifts weren't that great, but they were only cover gifts anyway, as the magical gifts that they had opened that morning were the actual presents.

For Emma, Harry had gotten an enchanted bath robe. While it didn't sound like much, the list of charms on it was impressive, even to Harry.

It was charmed to be warming, fast drying, extra absorbing, and probably most importantly, softer and fluffier.

Harry had considered getting Dan a matching robe, but had found a delux wizarding chess set in one of the catalogues Ron had picked up for him in hogsmeade. Dan had been interested when Harry described wizarding chess to him over the summer so Harry got him one of his own.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

After they had finished with their presents and packed them away, Emma and Ms Richards commandeered the kitchen so that they could start dinner. Harry had offered to help, but there wasn't much to do. All the work had been done the day before; vegetables chopped and peeled, the turkey stuffed, prepared and set in the fridge, and even the sausages wrapped in bacon, ready to be put in the oven when it was time.

In fact, the only reason the job took two of them was so that Emma wasn't left in the kitchen on her own.

This left Hermione and Harry alone with Dan, who was flicking through a stack of tapes, looking for a good Christmas film to watch, "Harry, do you happen to have a favourite Christmas film?"

Harry looked over to the stack of tapes Dan had surrounded himself with, before his eye caught onto one that had been put to the side, along with a few others, "I've always liked Die Hard."

Hermione jumped in, "But that's not a _Christmas _film."

"It takes place at a _Christmas party_. So, technically, it _is _a Christmas film", Harry defended.

"It's a film about shooting people. Christmas films are supposed to make you feel warm and fuzzy", Hermione protested.

"What about the scene at the end. The guy goes through everything the bad guys threw at him, and in the end he and his wife are back together all happy and relieved. You're saying that doesn't give you a warm fuzzy feeling?" Dan chipped in.

"It's not the same and you know it. Can't we stick to tradition and watch 'the snowman*' first?"

Harry wanted to joke around a little more, but Dan folded and put on the film Hermione requested. Harry hadn't seen the film before and was surprised that it was just music and a cartoon without any dialogue.

He was more surprised by how much he enjoyed it.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry was sat on the bench in the Grangers' backyard, wanting to just be alone in the early evening. Hermione had fallen asleep on the sofa, giving Harry the chance to get out of the way and clear his head.

Christmas at the Grangers' had been amazing. Not a fairy tale Christmas, like from a book, but a real Christmas, one that had not just the presents and dinner with over the top music in the background. But also lots of smaller things that must have developed over the Christmasses they had before, like the old crystal decanter that was on the table, full of ice water. It didn't match any of the rest of the plates or serving utensils, but the way Hermione reacted when it had almost been left in the kitchen said that there was a story behind it.

Someone came out the back door into the yard. Harry couldn't really see their features, but by the shape of their silhouette, it could only be Ms Richards. She came over and sat on the bench next to him, "It's a cold night", She stated.

Harry wasn't sure she needed an answer to that, but he gave one anyway, "Yeah, but not as cold as Scotland."

"True. But it's warmer inside."

"I'll probably head in soon."

"So, you don't plan on staying out here and moping all night then?"

"I prefer to think of it as brooding. Like...a wizard in Lord of the Rings. Just feels better than calling it moping."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders in indifference, "Won't really change anything. I just need to learn to live with it."

"Talking can help. And it costs nothing to try. Go on. Give it a shot."

"It'll sound stupid."

"Emotions often do."

Harry hesitated a few seconds; Ms Richards was leaving tomorrow and he wouldn't have to put up with that familiar look of pity, one that he knew was coming, for very long,

"This is probably one of the best Christmases I ever had.

No, this _is_ the best Christmas I ever had. It really showed me something about family. Not just being there for each other. That I get. But there is more.

Family, it's also like, a shared story. Little things that only family would understand, things that are all these little traditions. And every single one has a history, a reason.

And, it got me thinking.

What traditions and stories would I have had with my parents if they were still around? Would we have been a presents before or after breakfast family?

What kind of TV would we watch, or what games would we play?

What little trinkets would we have that it didn't feel like Christmas without?

It's just one more thing that I never realized I lost...It seems so insignificant, but..." Harry struggled to find the words to explain what he was feeling at that moment, and what he had felt ever since he learned of how his parents truly died,

"It's like those insignificant, little things, they are what really make a family, y'know, a family. It's not just feeling unconditional love, and trust, and care for each other.

Rather, it's knowing that you can feel that way, knowing your family, and that feeling where you know your family truly knows you."

Ms Richards looked at him for a few moments before she spoke, "I know what you mean. In some ways, the holidays are always the hardest. They're the times that always make you think about your family."

Harry waited for her to continue as she took a moment, it seemed, to compose herself, "You may, or may not, have noticed that no-one mentions Emma's father. That's because Emma never knew him.

My Russell was a good man. A bit too working class for my parents, but he was a hard worker.

We both worked for the same medical firm. It made some of those items that hospitals need, but only have one usage, such as syringes and specimen cups. I worked in the office mostly, working on billing and the such, but I also helped with payroll.

It was good work for a girl fresh out of college, especially in those days. Russell worked for dispatch; he was a van driver. We were planning on getting married; we had the church booked and everything.

But then he was to deliver a shipment to Ireland. There was a lot of tension back then. Not the bombings of the IRA, that would come later, but it wasn't uncommon for a riot and violence to break out.

My Russell, he never made it back. I still wonder how things would have been if he had. He would have absolutely loved Emma and would have doted on Hermione.

And, of course, I wonder what Christmas, Easter or even Halloween would have been like with him there-" Harry winced slightly at the mention of Halloween, "-are you OK?"

"I'm fine, I just don't really like Halloween. I-it's the night my parents died…"

Silence hung between them as the minutes slipped by, both trying to picture what might have been. It was Ms Richards who broke the silence, catching a reminiscent Harry off-guard,

"Can I ask what happened to your parents?"

Harry considered what he was able to say. He didn't answer right away, but continued to stare blindly in front of him, and Ms Richards was just about to give up on him answering when he quietly spoke.

"They were murdered", Ms Richards gasped in shock, but Harry continued on with his fabricated tale, "My dad was working with the police. He was on a team investigating an organisation that was pretty bad.

Then, on Halloween night, in 1981, the guy who ran the group came to our house. He murdered my parents."

Silence once again hung heavy in the air as the two fell into quietness, Ms Richards digesting what Harry had told her. He deliberately left out that he had watched his mother die, and that the "bad guy" had tried to kill him as well.

"What happened to the guy? Is he in prison?"

Harry considered how to answer; how would you describe a bodiless wrath to a Muggle who doesn't know about magic?

He had already missed out a _few _details in his story, but he wanted Ms Richards to feel some semblance of justice done. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell her that said "bad guy" was currently without a body, "Missing, presumed dead. But, I don't believe he is dead."

That was as true as he could be. Thank goodness for all the cop shows Dudley used to watch, while Harry was in his cupboard with nothing to do but listen.

"That's a lot for anyone to deal with", Ms Richards offered understanding instead of sympathy, for which Harry was grateful, "Sometimes", he agreed.

"I'm going to head back into the warm, are you coming?"

"I will be, I'm just gonna stay out here a bit longer. No need to spoil everyone's good time with my brooding."

Those words from her granddaughter flooded through Ms Richards head; '_if Harry thinks that someone will be hurt by something he will try and keep them from being hurt even if he is hurt instead.'_

It may seem insignificant that he would sit out here in the cold, just so their good mood wasn't put on the line, but the gesture of it meant alot, "Don't stay out here to long. I don't think any of us would be happy if you got sick."

_-ϟϟϟ-_

**Author's notes:**

Jumper* - what we Brits call sweater's

-cadburys British - chocolate making company that has been around for a long time. They specialise in milk chocolate and used to bost that a glass and a half of milk went into a bar of 'dairy milk' their signature plain chocolate bar. The authors favourite is the cadburys caramel if any of you want a recommendation or feels the need to bribe the author :D

-nevils gift - yes if you haven't guessed the plans smells like catnip to Hermione to harry the sent he gets is Lilly's.

-LP's - long play records. The record is turns slower so it plays for longer more music at the expense of audio quality

-money in the wallet - it's traditional to put some money in a wallet you are giving as a gift for luck

-the snowman - The Snowman is a wordless children's picture book by English author Raymond Briggs, first published in 1978 The Snowman was adapted as a half-hour animated television special that was shown on TV for the first time in 1982. The story is told through pictures, action and music, scored by Howard Blake. It is wordless, just like the book, except for the song "Walking in the Air". The snowman is still really popular in Britain and is shown on TV in the run-up to Christmas every year.


	27. Chapter 27 - happy new year

Notes:

Hey everyone sorry this chapter took so long i had a birthday. Matty was sick then we both had to deal with visiting family then to top it off Mattys pc was/is playing up.

quick poll question for you guys:

what should be the form of Hermione's Patronus? please leave your suggestions in the comment/reviews or pm them to me directly

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Chapter 27 The New Year

Harry collapsed on the sofa upon entering the Grangers' living room. It had been a long day. Harry had heard about Boxing day sales from Hermione, but he had never been to one before; his aunt had never gone shopping on Boxing day, so Harry had never been conscripted to act as a bag carrier.

For the Grangers however, it seemed to be not just a tradition, but bordered on being a military operation.

Out of bed by 6AM, out of the house by 7; they were waiting outside the first shop waiting for it to open.

What followed was a long day of more shops and clothes than Harry had been able to keep track of. Mostly, it was clothing for the three women, but Harry and Dan had, unfortunately, not been able to escape being dressed up and ogled. Harry was now the owner of a new pair of black leather shoes that were, in his opinion, ridiculously shiny, as well a waistcoat in a colour Hermione called aquamarine, though Harry opted greenish-blue.

Hermione had said he would look good in the colour and had rushed off with Emma somewhere, leaving Dan and Harry unable to find them again for forty-five minutes, at which point Hermione was carrying a bag she hadn't been when she'd disappeared.

When he'd asked her what she had gotten, she became oddly evasive, though Harry had soon forgotten about it while he was being dragged around what felt like a thousand other shops.

All Harry wanted now was to keep off his feet. Hermione collapsed next to him with an audible groan, leaving a number of bags on the floor in front of her.

"I thought your mother wanted you to put them away, not leave them on the floor," Ms Richards said, as she took the last spot on the sofa on Hermione's other side.

"I don't think my feet can handle the stairs just yet," Hermione all but whined.

It was weird seeing Hermione with her family sometimes. It hadn't happened over the summer as much, but since they had arrived back for Christmas, Hermione seemed to act younger than the Hermione he was used to. Harry didn't understand it but he figured it was one of those family things that he just didn't get.

Hermione curled into her nan. Harry understood why she didn't hug against him like she usually would; Ms Richards was going home tomorrow morning and Hermione wanted to be close to her while she could.

What Harry didn't understand though was when Hermione swung her feet up onto his lap, "Haarrrry," Hermione dragged out his name in the way she did when she wanted to ask him for something that she shouldn't, "Can you take off my shoes, pleease?"

Harry looked at her blankly for a few seconds before he replied, "if it was anyone else."

He left her to interpret the sentence in her head as he untied the laces on her boots. One part of wizarding fashion that Hermione had latched onto was boots instead of the wildly impractical shoes he had seen a lot of Muggle girls and women in over the years. Luckily, current trends in witches' boots really didn't look out of place with a pair of jeans.

Harry slipped the boots off her feet and sent them on the floor, "Happy now, your highness?" He teased.

Hermione shot back, "You can give my royal feet a massage, if you like," She waved one of her feet at Harry.

"You know 'Mione, walking around all day with your feet in those boots doesn't leave them smelling like roses," Harry said as he pushed her feet back onto his lap, as Ms Richards laughed at the two of them.

Over the next few minutes, Dan and Emma came in from the car, bringing more of their own shopping in. They shot Hermione a look for being on the sofa instead of putting her new clothes away, but didn't say anything.

Harry got the impression that the only reason they let her get away with it was because Ms Richards was leaving tomorrow and this was likely to be the last chance Hermione had to spend any time with her until the summer. Hermione hadn't discussed it with Harry yet but, they tended to stay at Hogwarts over Easter.

For Harry there had never been a choice, but Hermione had always chosen to stay. That Easter was the point at which the professors started pushing that the end of year exams were coming up was probably why; Hermione wouldn't want to lose access to such an important resource as the Hogwarts library at such an important time.

Hermione broke the silence by asking, "Do you really need to leave tomorrow Nan?"

"Sorry love, but you know I do. I have things to do at home," Ms Richards sounded genuinely sad to be leaving tomorrow.

"But I won't see you again for so long."

"You could always come visit at easter. I have a guest room, you can come stay; just me and you if you like."

Harry saw the look Hermione gave him, but before she could reply Harry jumped in. He wouldn't let himself get in the way of Hermione spending time with anyone and that went double for her family, "Don't worry about me 'Mione. I can stay at school and you can visit whomever you like. I think I can survive two weeks without you."

Ms Richards flashed him a smile from behind Hermione. Apparently she thought Harry had said the right thing. Hermione however, disagreed, "I have to stay at school over Easter, that's when we need to start preparing for our exams. I can't leave the library for two whole weeks during revision time."

Harry sighed, causing Hermione to glare at him, "Don't you sigh at me, Harry James Potter, you know I won't risk my exams like that. And, you will be following the revision timetable I set for you as well. You have done so much better so far this year, and I will make sure that it's reflected in your exams."

Ms Richards was trying not to laugh as Harry received a scolding from Hermione, as she laid out what was expected of him in regards to studying, "Whatever you say," he reminded her, "just remember, Wood is going to have a few words about how I spend my free time. He is obsessed with winning the tournament this year."

"I will budget time for you to run around and get all sweaty Harry, don't worry. And, if Wood goes overboard, I will remind him that the twins are sitting important exams this year," Hermione obviously seemed to have it all worked out in her head.

"Yes...but I doubt the twins will care about their exams anyway. You know what Fred and George are like."

"Don't they care at all about their exams?" Ms Richards asked.

"Not really," Harry answered, "They aren't stupid or lazy, they just seem more focused on other stuff."

"I'll just set Percy on them," Hermione grinned.

For Ms Richard's sake Harry explained, "Percy is the twin's older brother, and current head boy. He's a bit of a stick in the mud, but a good sort if you play it straight. He will push his brothers into studying."

The conversation continued for a while until Harry went to get an early night. He made his excuses and left the two women on the sofa, heading to bed while taking his new clothes, and a good portion of Hermione's, up with him.

He was asleep before Hermione got to the room.

\- ϟϟϟ -

Harry was getting ready for the new year's party, which he was attending with the Grangers. He was back in the guest room, but only while Hermione used hers to get ready for the night.

When he had brought up moving back into the guest room the day after Ms Richards had left Hermione had just kicked him in the shin. Her message was clear enough she wanted Harry to stay right where he was.

Harry checked his reflection in the mirror that was attached to the back of a dressing table. The teen that looked back at him was quite a bit better looking than Harry thought of himself. He was wearing a black shirt and trousers, along with his new aquamarine waistcoat and shiny shoes, that Hermione called patent leather.

Dan had come in a few minutes ago and had done something with Harry's hair. While it wasn't anything like neat or tidy now. it did look as though it was meant to look that way, rather than the 'I just got out of bed and found that a bird had made a nest in my hair' look that he normally sported.

Emma, who was already ready, had stopped by and offered to cover up Harry's scar with make-up, as during conversations they had had over the summer, Harry told her how much people staring at his scar bothered him. His male pride had battled with his desire not to be the centre of attention, but as the party was a Muggle one and in the Muggle world his scar was just an interesting curiosity of his appearance, and not the focal point of the end of the war, his male pride had won out, leaving him with the scar that always stood out, no matter what he was wearing.

Harry did one last check of his appearance, making sure that he had everything he was taking with him. He almost forgot the pack of mints that Emma had left him, but she had said that Harry would find a use for them before the end of the night, so Harry, though confused, had made sure to bring them.

Harry made his way downstairs and collapsed on the sofa. Dan was sat in one of the chairs, the two of them just waiting for Hermione and Emma. Emma may have been ready a while ago, but she was helping Hermione get ready.

Harry didn't understand why it took women so long to get ready. He understood that they had extra to do with the hair and makeup, but he didn't get how those things seemed to take so long.

Harry didn't have to wonder for too long, as soon he heard footsteps on the stairs, with Emma coming down first, soon followed by...

If it was a cartoon, Harry's mouth would have it the floor.

Hermione was wearing a dress that ended just above her knees, and was a very close match in colour to his waistcoat. She had done something with her hair, aswell. It was just as curly and bushy as ever, but the randomness had been ordered so that it fell with itself instead of against itself. The new style left a lot more of her neck exposed, revealing that she was wearing the locket that Harry had given her for Christmas. Add to that a touch of eye makeup and lip gloss, meaning that she looked absolutely amazing .

"Hermione...uh...wow."

"I think that was a compliment," Hermione smiled at him, waiting for him to find his thoughts again.

"Complement. Yes . You look...just, wow ."

Hermione glowed at Harry. It wasn't often that she felt attractive.

She wasn't insecure about her looks, at least, not anymore. She still had self-esteem issues over her cat ears, and she hadn't really ever felt attractive. That her boyfriend was stumbling over his words at how she looked was a big boost to her self image.

Harry was just about to kiss Hermione when a flash dazed him for half a second.

Dan had taken a picture of the two of them.

In that half a second Hermione had also put her hand out and stopped him, "Not now Harry. I don't want to mess up my makeup just yet." Harry was a little disappointed, but he sort of understood, so instead he took her hand and kissed that instead.

The camera flashed again.

After that Dan had Hermione and Harry pose for a few shots. He then handed Harry the camera and had him take a few shots of him and Emma. He wanted a few shots of the four of them together, but as his camera didn't have a time function, it would have to wait until there was someone else to take the photo.

Once the photos were done with they all climbed into the Grangers' car and Emma set off to some other part of London. Harry was better at navigating London now than he was when he first 'moved in' with the Grangers, but in a city like London, that just meant that he was only terrible, rather than abismal .

Harry had no clue where they were when they pulled into a car park that was next to a building, which was old enough that style was as much a consideration as function, rather than the square blocks of concrete and glass that were more common now.

Inside the building was a large hall that had been decorated for the party; there were balloons and banners with 1994 and 'Happy New Year' in big colourful letters.

One side of the hall was dedicated to food and drink. There was even a temporary bar set up. The opposite side was taken up by the DJ, who had lights, speakers and a few other things on a scaffold frame around where he had set up his equipment.

The speakers looked like they weighed more than Harry, they were that big.

The rest of the hall was split into two sections. The half of the hall closest to the music was apparently a dance floor, judging by the few who were already using that part. The other half was for the food, and had a number of tables and chairs set out where people could sit.

Hermione looked around to see who was there already.

Since she had met a lot of people before, Harry was relying on her for introductions. He was quickly paraded around the people there as they met doctor after doctor and their wives and husbands. It was one of those polite boring things nobody really wanted to do.

Harry thought that most of them were boring adults who wanted to talk about things he had little interest in, and he was sure that their opinion of him was that he was just some childish teen who knows nothing about how the world works.

Soon they were done with the adults. Dan and Emma had been drawn into a conversation with a Doctor Jones and Hermione had taken the opportunity to pull Harry over to a group of teens that had claimed a spot at one side of the hall. They had pushed a few tables together and they were all chatting.

One of the girls, a blond about the same age as him and Hermione, saw Hermione coming and waved, "Well, well, well, look who's home from her fancy boarding school.

How are you doing Hermione? Last time we saw you was two years ago at that New Year's party. You were all chatty about some boy you met at that school of yours. Speaking of a boy, who is this friend of yours?"

All of that was asked in such quick and rapid speech that Harry thought would just turn into a hum if she had a cup of coffee. Hermione walked over and gave the girl a hug, "Mandy, oh, I missed you. Yeah, I'm back for Christmas this year. I was too busy to leave school last Christmas. I meant to call you over the summer but there just wasn't time."

"Just what could you have have been doing last year that left you too busy to come home for Christmas?" The energetic one asked.

"Well...you remember the guy I told you about?"

"You mean your ' mister perfect' that you talked about for an hour non-stop? Nope, don't recall."

"Mr perfect? An hour!?" Harry asked

A pink glow spears on Hermione's cheeks, "Uh...well, meet...Mr perfect," She indicated Harry who's cheeks suddenly matched Hermione's, "Or, as he prefers, Harry. We have been together for a year now."

Harry waved at the group, who were all focusing on him now, "Hi...as Hermione said, I'm Harry."

"Hi Harry, I'm Mandy," the energetic blond introduced herself.

"I'm Lewis," the tall guy, who looked a couple of years older than Harry, said.

"I'm Beth," she was a shorter, dark-haired girl whose age seemed to split the difference between Lewis and Hermione.

"And I'm Tina. It's a pleasure to meet you both," A black girl, who looked about 13, introduced herself to both Harry and Hermione.

"It's nice to meet you all," Harry finished off the introductions.

Mandy pulled Harry and Hermione into a couple of seats. Harry managed to not flinch at being pulled around by a strange girl. She sat next to him, putting her arm around him in what she evidently thought was a friendly manner, but it just made Harry uncomfortable, "So, Mr perfect ; you and Hermione. What's the story. What's the gossip ?"

Harry didn't know how to respond. Mandy was trying to be friendly, but she seemed to have just run full force into everything that Harry had issues with. He didn't like that she was so close, let alone that she was touching him.

He was doing better with the whole touching people thing. It had surprised him when he had come home from Hogwarts that he accepted a side hug from Emma.

The second problem was that Mandy was looking for gossip about him. Harry hated being the topic of gossip, yet, in this case, the gossip wasn't some outrageous rumor or a tale of Harry trying to devise some horror that had been twisted into an unrecognisable epic of adventure and daring.

"Uh Mand, can you undrape yourself from my boyfriend, please?"

"Oh sorry Hermione, I didn't think you'd take it like that," Mandy looked a little upset.

"It not that Mandy. I don't really like being touched by people. Hermione is just trying to help." Harry explained, trying not to make it sound like a big deal.

"Don't take this the wrong way," Beth said, quickly continuing on, " But, if you don't like being touched, how are you with hug-Zilla over there?" She indicated Hermione, who stuck her tongue out at her friend.

"Hermione is different. I don't have a problem with her...hugging me," there was a pause after Harry spoke, the first thing coming to Harry's mind wasn't hugs…

"So what you are saying..." Lewis, the tall, older guy, joined in, "...Is that the power of boners heals your touch problem?"

Harry and Hermione both spluttered at the bold statement, each turning redder and redder as the group around them laughed. Through the spluttering and blushing, Harry was quick to deny the allegation, "No! It not like that...Hermione was hugging me before we even become a couple. It was, well...it just takes time for me to be comfortable having someone that close."

The conversation continued for a while, with everyone having fun at harry and Hermione's expense. Harry had thought it a little cruel, until they started in on Lewis and Beth, who were also apparently a couple, even if both of them had been brought separately by their own fathers who were the dentists in their families. Once they had finished embarrassing the couples, everyone got their own turn in the 'spotlight'.

Harry wasn't sure about the other teens.

While they were funny and the ribbing was friendly, Harry didn't think he could ever relax around them. The last thing he wanted was for the topic of the Dursleys or his parents to receive that kind of treatment.

Soon the buffet was opened, drinks were served and the music picked up. Lewis, who said he was 18, had brought a small bottle of vodka with him and had offered to spike a drink or two for each of them. Harry was tempted but followed Hermione's lead and turned it down. Emma and Dan had been so good to him he wasn't going to risk that for a drink that he didn't even know if he would like.

Before long the various couples started to the dance floor as the adults used the excuse of the new year to let off a little steam. It wasn't long before Hermione tried to pull Harry to go dance.

"Come on Harry! let's dance for a bit," Hermione called over the loud music, tugging on his arm as she attempted to pull him into the mass of dancers.

Harry however, pulled back with a shake of his head, not even trying to be heard over the music. Hermione glared at him and gave his arm a light tug, asking him again but without words.

Harry shook his head a second time and gave Hermione a tug, pointing his head at the door as he tried to indicate going outside to talk.

Judging by Hermione's confused expression, she hadn't a clue what he was trying to say. He tried a few more gestures, but it just made it worse. In the end, Harry had to resort to shouting over the music.

"Let's go outside a minute! To talk where the music is quieter!"

Hermione winced at Harry shouting in her ear, but nodded and led them outside.

The two of them weren't the only ones outside, but it seemed they were the only ones who weren't smoking fags*.

The chill of the December, or very-nearly-January, air was a relief after the stuffy hall. With fifty or so people, most of whom were dancing, combined with a few heaters for some hot menu items at the buffet, and a lack of any fans led to the hall being almost oppressively hot and humid.

The teenage couple picked a spot that was a little away from the smokers and the smell of burning tobacco. The odour was a lot better than a lot of what they had to deal with in Potions class, and even a few of the plants they had encountered in Herbology, but there was no need to stay so close to the smell.

"What's wrong Harry? Why don't you want to dance with me?" Hermione asked as soon as they had relative privacy, the hurt audible in her voice.

Harry hesitated, a little embarrassed, "It's not that; I do want to dance with you, I really do. It's just…" Harry's next words were too quiet for Hermione to hear through her hairband.

"It's just what Harry?"Hermione pressed.

Harry swallowed his pride and said, "I don't know how to dance."

Understanding flashed over Hermione's face, "Oh."

But she then grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him over to a window that looked back into the hall, "Harry, look at the people on the dance floor and tell me what they are doing," Hermione had switched to her lecture voice and Harry almost instinctively followed her direction.

"Um...dancing?" He didn't understand what she wanted him to notice.

"Harry that's not dancing, not really. All they are doing is cuddling while swaying to the music," Hermione declared.

Now that Harry looked again, there was nothing of the complicated movements that he'd seen on the TV shows his aunt had watched on occasion. In fact, cuddling while swaying to the music was a good description of what most of them were doing.

"It's not real dancing, and it's not hard. Here, let me show you," She stepped right in front of him so that she was almost touching him. She took his left hand and placed it on her hip, "that hand goes there, while mine goes here," She put her hand on his shoulder and then took his other hand in hers.

Harry was sure it had just gotten suddenly hotter, as his face reddened and his collar became sweaty.

"This is better for the faster dances, where we move a bit more and this…" she took both of his hands and pressed her body against his, placing his hands just above her arse. Harry froze for a second and Hermione took the opportunity to put her arms around the back of his neck, "...Is more appropriate for the slow dances."

Harry's brain was still rebooting from having Hermione pressed right up against him. He leaned forward a little bit, only to hide just how much he liked that Hermione was so close, and he was just glad she hadn't noticed.

Hermione arms, which were still around his neck, pulled his head forward and down a little, resulting in Harry looking right at Hermione's eyes. It was weird, but in a good way, normally if they were this close they were curled up together.

Usually, in that circumstance, Hermione was using his chest as a pillow, or they were kissing. Harry was a little surprised to realise that even without the kissing, that feeling of just being close to Hermione was just as strong, but it was more relaxed than the intense fiery need that accompanied the kissing.

"Just add a little swaying and there you go, we're dancing," Hermione added a little movement in time to the music they could hear from inside and Harry's body naturally followed her lead.

The two of them 'practised' slow dancing for a few more minutes until the chill of the winter night began to rob them of their body heat. Hermione dragged Harry back into the hall and onto the dance floor, just in time for a slow song.

Hermione grinned as she wrapped her arms back around his neck, with Harry hesitating before putting his hands where Hermione had instructed, as he suddenly became very aware that Hermione's parents were also in the room, even if he didn't know exactly where they were at that moment. But, as Hermione pressed against him, he soon lost focus on everything else.

Before Harry knew it, everyone was getting ready for the countdown. Harry was just finishing a drink of lemonade* as he considered how he was going to kiss Hermione at midnight, when he remembered the pack of mints that Emma had made sure he had, as he would 'find a use for them'.

He definitely would be finding a use for them, and he quickly put three in his mouth. He debated offering some to Hermione, wondering if she would think he was insulting her breath, but before he could reach a decision she came up behind him and took the mints out of his hand and, after grabbing a couple, she slipped the pack back into his pocket, then dragged him back onto the dance floor.

They got in one last dance before the DJ quietened down the music as everyone made their way outside.

The air bit at Harry's nose and fingers; it had gotten colder since they had come out here earlier. He put an arm around Hermione, who's dress left her shoulders rather exposed, and to some it would look like a sweet gesture to keep her warm, but Harry knew that Hermione would know that he was just as glad at the sharing of their body heat. His skinny frame lost it's own heat rather quickly, probably quicker than Hermione's.

"Ok everyone, one minute!" Someone called out.

The crowd waited in bated silence until the countdown began, and Hermione rested her head on Harry's shoulder as he pulled her in closer.

The same voice called, "Ten!"

"Nine!" this time the voice was joined by about half of the crowd.

"Eight!" most of the crowd said in unison.

"Seven!" all of them were now counting down.

"Six!" Harry turned to Hermione.

"Five!" He pulled her in close.

"Four!" She leaned into him as he wrapped his other arm around her.

"Three!" He was suddenly very aware of Hermione's breasts as they pressed against his chest.

"Two!" He realised that he hadn't actually made his decision on how he would kiss her. Should it be short and sweet, or a deeper kiss?

"Harry." Hermione got his attention.

"One!" Harry was waiting on what Hermione wanted to say.

"I love you." All concern for the new year coming disappeared in an instant. His arms tightened around his girlfriend as he pulled her into the deepest kiss he had ever started. His tongue even finding its way into her mouth. She moaned appreciatively as she totally gave herself over to moment, pressing herself impossibly closer to Harry.

They were both so caught up in the moment that neither of them noticed what was going on around them.

Everyone called out "Happy New Year!" A good number of them started to sing 'Auld Lang syne' and Dan who had been watching the two of them, had pulled out a camera and started to take photos of the two of them with a big smile on his face.

Harry broke the kiss off. He wasn't sure how long it had lasted but Hermione obviously thought it wasn't long enough as she tried to pull him back into the kiss. Harry resisted, he had something to say first, "I love you too 'Mione."

If Harry thought that she was smiling before, it was nothing to the absolutely radiant one she now had.

But that smile was soon gone as Hermione's mouth was quickly occupied with their previous task.

As the fireworks started going off to celebrate the new year.

Notes:

Author's notes:

Fags* - in the UK, even more in the 90s than now, fag is a slang term for a cigarette not for a homosexual

Lemonade* British lemonade comes in two variations one is fizzy and a cloudy yellowish colour the other is more like sprite only it's just lemon not Lemon and lime. Clear as water and fizzy. In pubs and events like this, it's almost exclusively the sprite like lemonade.


	28. Chapter 28 - Once more unto the breach

Notes: sorry that he chapter is this late guys. After being subjected to much of my unedited work Matty my beta's computer vomited suicide. This ment that getting this chapter ready has bean a real chore. The good news is that I have still bean writing new content at the same east so the raw chapter 29 is finished and I am half way through chapter 30. So even if updates are slower the fic is not dead.

I'm looking for a second beta to help with the second book/fourth year. More specifically I need the help of someone who can correct what Google translate passes as french and someone who can help with informal conversation in french. I can't say too much without giving spoilers but I will need some help. If you are interested pm me. Me and Matty work using Google docs and discord.

**Chapter 28 - Once more unto the breach**

**Saturday 1st January 1994**

Everyone within the Granger household had gotten up late. Not going to bed till three in the morning tends to leave one with a need of extra sleep, meaning no-one had gotten out of bed for longer than a trip to the bathroom until around midday.

Hermione was currently making sure that all the stuff she wanted to take to Hogwarts was packed into Harry's trunk. She was leaving a lot of the clothes she had brought back from Hogwarts at home in favour of taking some of her newer ones to wear at school.

Harry, who had no wardrobe space, was already packed by virtue of keeping everything he owned in his trunk, and was laying on the fold-out bed that was in her room, reading his new copy of _Quidditch through the Ages_.

"'Mione, have you ever heard of a _snigit hunt_?"

"It's an old wizarding _'sport', _where the participants would fly on brooms and try and catch a small fast agile bird with their bare hands. The snigit was so small that the person who caught it would almost always crush the poor little thing. The snigit hunt is the origin of the Seeker position in Quidditch."

"I was just thinking it sounds like fun. I wonder if we could arrange a hunt at Hogwarts?"

Hermione looked at him, horrified at the idea of killing something just for sport,

"Harry James Potter, snigit hunting is illegal, the snigit was almost hunted into _extinction _and is considered an _endangered _species!

Even if it wasn't killing a poor defenceless animal just for sport, it's _barbaric_; if you even _think _of doing it I won't talk to you for a month! You understand me!?" By the end of her rant Hermione was shouting.

"Woe Hermione," Harry dropped the book and raised his hands in a surrendering gesture, "I wasn't thinking about hunting _real _snigits. I was thinking we could use snitches. We could set ten snitches loose in the grounds and each house could have a team of, say, three hunters and the team that catches the most wins. I would never think to use live animals, that's just _cruel_."

Hermione felt her anger slowly drain away as she realised that Harry didn't want to use live birds. It didn't sound all that fun to her, but then again, she wasn't really a fan of flying. While it didn't sound like much of a spectator sport, she could see how someone like Harry, who absolutely loves flying, could easily find a hunt like he described fun. And at least he wouldn't have blugers flying at him in a snitch hunt.

"I'm sorry Harry, it's just I thought-"

"-that I meant terrifying a tiny cute fluff ball as we chased it around, then crushed it to death. Hermione, if I had meant that, trust me, I would want you to stop me," Harry cut her off, finishing her sentence for her.

Hermione suddenly felt bad about accusing Harry like that. She should have known that he wouldn't have hunted real snigits. It would be to easy for Harry to empathise with the poor creatures; being pursued by a group of Wizards who want nothing more than to kill him wasn't particularly new to either of them.

Now that she thought about it, Harry wouldn't be able to hunt snigits, it wasn't the kind of person he was.

Something in her expression must have betrayed her thoughts taking a darker turn, as Harry got off his bed and wrapped his arms around her. She relaxed into him, letting his hug wash away the thoughts.

"I love you Hermione," Hermione felt her heart race at those words, words which would never stop getting that reaction from her.

"I love you too," Ever since she had told Harry that last night, it was like a dam had burst, and they couldn't stop saying it, not that they wanted to.

She and Harry had told the other they loved them eighteen times now, which was impressive, given that they had only been awake for about seven hours since then.

_-_**_ϟϟϟ_**_-_

There was a knock on the open door to Hermione's room and emma walked in, "Hey, you two, can you put each other down for a minute?"

The two teens broke apart reluctantly and Hermione steeled herself for whatever telling off they were about to receive. She and Harry had been all over each other for the entire day so far.

Had they _finally _gone so far that her mum was going to tell them to cool it off?

Emma, seeing her daughter and her boyfriend's slight change in demeanour, started by reassuring them, "calm down you two, this is only a school talk, not a bollocking."

Hermione relaxed, happy that she wasn't going to be berated for her intimacy with Harry. She had no intention of slowing things with Harry, now that they had finally made some progress, and even so, just because she wouldn't change what she was doing didn't mean she wanted to get into a fight with her mum over it.

Not that she and Harry were doing anything new, it was just more of what they were _already _doing. More hugs, more kissing; all that had really changed was the words. Hermione considered for a moment if she was being paranoid in regards to her parents.

Ever since she had come home for the summer they had been so…well, _cool _about everything.

She had returned with a deformity and a tale of being in a coma for a couple of weeks.

And her parents just accepted it.

Sure, they had talked about sending her to a different magical school, such as Beauxbatons in France, but even then they had easily accepted that Hermione wanted to stay at Hogwarts.

Then, a few weeks later, Harry had appeared in the dining room and her parents had decided to do exactly what Hermione wanted them to and let him stay. Now that they were back for Christmas, they had even trusted Harry and her to share a room, even though Hermione had explained to her mum about the more _adult _hormones and going into heat every month.

Hermione didn't doubt for even a moment that she had the beast parents.

"So, how are your grades so far this year Hermione?" her mom's question brought her out of her musings.

"Not bad. I'm doing Ok..." Harry snorted in the seat next to her and she shot him a look, to which he replied, "If by _Ok, _you mean the top student in our year over all and the top student in about half of the individual subjects."

"Only half?" Emma teased, "what about you Harry? Are you doing any better this year?"

Harry gulped next Hermione, who was sure he was remembering how guilty her mum had made him feel about his grades over the summer, "I _think _I'm doing Ok." Harry tentatively said. Hermione didn't know why he was so worried; he was doing way better than last year. "l mean...my grades are up a bit."

"Same question I asked over the summer Harry; Do you think you can better?"

Harry consider his answer for a few moments before he replied, uncertain, "Maybe? I don't know."

"Harry, you are doing great! You are in the top twenty in our year. And you even get the best in year sometimes in DADA and Runes assignments. You have gone from regularly placing fiftieth to sixtieth place to being in the top few in our year. You have done amazingly well, and in only four months!" Hermione considered telling Harry that the only thing keeping him from being in the top ten was his Potions grade. She was sure it was the grade and not the work.

She had read every one of his essays before he handed it in, and she was certain that Harry was averaging an 'Exceeds Expectations', with the odd 'Outstanding'. Professor Snape, however, never marked him higher than an acceptable.

The problem was, she worried that if she told Harry he good he really _was _doing, then he might stop trying. Why put in the effort if it did him no good? But if he did that, it could affect his OWL's, which were graded by others from outside Hogwarts.

Hermione watched as her mum digested the change in Harry's academic ability, which of course, Hermione was carefully keeping track of. When she thought about it, it really was quite a feat. If she hadn't seen the flashes of just how brilliant he could be when he was focused on something over the years, then she wouldn't have thought it possible.

It was a pity that until this year, all Harry had been able to focus on was whatever was trying to kill him. Well..._her_ and whatever was trying to kill him. But she wasn't going to say anything negative about him focusing on her.

"Harry, that jump is absolutely brilliant. Rising that much academically is _way _more than doing Ok or your grades being up a bit. You should be really proud of yourself. It may seem a little weird coming from me, but I'm extremely proud of you for this."

Hermione turned to look at Harry as concern filled her at how he was feeling. Just like "_I love you"_, _"I'm proud of you"_ was another phrase Harry wouldn't have heard of growing up.

But Harry was fine, and his face beamed with a grin.

_-_**_ϟϟϟ_**_-_

**Sunday 2nd January 1994**

Hermione hugged her mum as tight as she could before doing the same with her dad. Parting after Christmas was, in some ways, harder than it was in September; in September she at least knew that she would see her parents again in just four months. Even when she had decided to stay at school last Christmas, she hadn't considered that she would in September, when they'd parted.

Hermione was trying not to make a scene in front of the witches and wizards that had all stopped eating their lunch as soon as _the boy who lived_ entered the pub.

Harry and Hermione were not going back to Hogwarts on the express like everyone else. They were instead flooing from the Leaky Cauldron. A few days ago Harry had gotten a letter from the headmaster explaining why;

_Harry,_

_Firstly, let me apologize for disturbing you at Christmas. I was pleasantly surprised when Professor McGonagall informed me that you had left the castle to spend Christmas with your guardians; a good Christmas with family is a balm for the soul._

_As to why I am disturbing you now: a number of parents were a little alarmed to see you getting off the express a few days ago. They were so concerned that a number of them decided to write to me expressing these concerns. _

_As I have gathered, the two main worries are that the express is too 'exposed' for you while Bellatrix LeStrange is still loose, and many fear that you could be attacked while traveling to or from the school. The other worry is that parents feel their own children could be hurt if a fight was to break out between you and Bellatrix._

_Personally, I do not feel that Bellatrix is likely to attack you on the train; there would be far too many people there for her to guarantee reaching you or her escape. There is, however, an appearance of safety that must be maintained, or parents could decide to seek their children's education else were._

_To this end, I have arranged for you to return to the castle by floo. If you go to the Leaky Cauldron between midday and one on the second of January, you will find that the fees have been paid for your use of a public floo access._

_Merry Christmas,_

_Albus Dumbledore,_

_Hogwarts headmaster_

With the letter had come a sealed note from Professor McGonagall informing them of the password for the fire in her office, and that she had arranged for Hermione to use the floo as well because it didn't make any sense for them to travel separately.

"Now you two have fun at school, and don't forget, I want a letter every week."

Hermione nodded at her mum. "Every week, mum. I promise," With that she turned and opened the little paper package she had received from Tom, the Bartender, throwing the green glitter-like powder into the large fire that dominated one side of the pub. Instantly the fire turned green.

Hermione hesitated a second before she stepped into the emerald inferno. She relaxed; the light tingle was nothing like the conflagration that _that _woman had hit her and Harry with at Halloween, "The Cat's Cradle."

Hermione found herself surrounded by flames as she was propelled along what seemed to be a literal tunnel of fire. She was bombarded with flash after flash of living rooms and offices, some with people, some without, but they all disappeared as quickly as they came.

None of them lingered long enough for her to get even the barest of impressions about the rooms she was glimpsing.

She tried to pay attention to the flashes though, if only to distract herself from the images her mind was calling up of the last time she had been surrounded by fire.

What was probably a few seconds after her journey started, she landed in an office; an office she recognised as being the office of one of her favourite Professors. Professor McGonagall looked up from her paperwork as her fire had flared green, and she came and greeted Hermione, who was brushing the ash and soot from her robes.

"Welcome back Miss Granger. You may want to clear the way for Mr Pot-"

Hermione realised what her head of house meant as soon as she had said 'clear the way'. However, her reactions weren't quite quick enough, resulting in Harry barrelling into her as he came out of the floo at some speed. He probably could have caught himself, if he wasn't also carrying his trunk, with the extra weight almost causing him to fall flat on his face. Hermione found her arms full as she stopped Harry from toppling over.

"Why Harry, it looks like you've fallen for me."

Hermione's face was suddenly red hot as she realised who their company was.

How could she have said that in front of a _Professor_?

Worse, it was _Professor McGonagall_; only Professor Snape could have been worse. She watched Harry for his reaction. If he got embarrassed, then that could make this so much worse.

Harry's face was first filed with confusion as he tried to catch up with what she was saying, and then his face went red and his eyes darted to look back and forth between her and Professor McGonagall.

He took a steadying breath, and although his face was still red, he replaced his expression with that little confident smirk of his that drove Hermione nuts

"A little bit more every day," he replied.

Hermione relaxed, and while she wanted to kiss him for that, she was now even more aware that they were in Professor McGonagall's office, with said Professor watching everything they did.

"Welcome back Mr Potter. I trust you both had a good Yuletide," She flicked her wand at the pair of them, and the thin coating of ash and soot that the floo trip had left on their clothes vanished. It seemed that their Professor had decided to be merciful and pretend that nothing had happened. Though, judging by the twitch in the corner of her mouth that was threatening to turn her expression into a smile, the Head of Gryffindor didn't exactly _disapprove_.

"_Best_ Christmas I ever had, topped off with a perfect New Years," replied Harry. The grin that was on his face showed just how true that was for him. Hermione felt bittersweet about that; she loved that she had given Harry his best ever Christmas, but felt sad that it had been so easy to do so.

Harry deserved much better memories to compare with this Christmas.

"Yes, New Years was perfect," Hermione echoed, without adding any details.

Professor McGonagall looked at the two of them with a slight smile, debating whether she should ask for details. She must have decided that it was better not to ask, "I suspect the two of you will want to go settle back into your dorms. The new password is _mistletoe_."

They thanked the Professor for the use of her fire, and after a few pleasantries, the two of them made their way back to the Gryffindor tower. Unfortunately, that meant climbing up three floors with Harry's trunk. While the trunk wasn't heavy, Harry was finding it was awkward to get up the stairs. After the first flight, Hermione took pity on her struggling boyfriend and spelled his trunk to float behind them.

"Really Harry, you could have done that yourself."

Harry looked embarrassed and muttered something under his breath.

"I didn't catch that Harry. One sec, I forgot to take off my hair band," She reached up and pulled off her hair band.

It felt great for Hermione to take off her hairband. Before her nan had left, she had worn it twenty four hours a day, and her ears were feeling a little claustrophobic. It had gotten better since she had gone back to only wearing it during the day.

Now that she was back at Hogwarts though, she was looking forward to not needing to hide them, even if some of the other students gave her a hard time.

"I didn't think to use magic. I guess my head is still in the Muggle world," Harry mumbled again. It wasn't as quiet as before, but Hermione would still have had trouble understanding him if her ears were covered.

Hermione considered Harry's words; she understood what he meant, Harry was still thinking like he did back home, to do everything without magic. It would probably take a few days for some people, especially those of them who grew up without magic, to get back into thinking of doing things with it.

"You should just cast a bunch of spells now to get your thinking straight."

"No magic in the corridors!" The voice of the school's caretaker warned them. The two had arrived at the entrance to the Gryffindor common room only to find not just the painting of the knight as Hermione had expected, but alsoMr filch, who renaming the portrait of the fat lady, "If you two are wanting back into your common room, it will be ten minutes or so," he told them with his usual disdain for students evident.

With nothing else to do but wait, Hermione sat on the lid of Harry's trunk. Mrs Norris, Mr filch's cat, came over to her for a scratch behind the ears. Hermione presumed she was the only student in the school that the cat could even remotely stand. Mrs Norris was surprising nice, now that she wasn't trying to get Hermione into trouble for every little thing.

While Hermione entertained the cat's attention, she listened as Harry talked to the fat lady and Mr filch. Harry had complimented the fat lady on her restoration, claiming whoever had done it had done a world class job. What Harry or Hermione hadn't known was that the one who did the restoration work was standing right there, listening to said complement.

When Mr filch had revealed that he was the one who restored the painting, Harry had flushed bright-red with embarrassment, obviously not expecting the hated caretaker to be the one he was complimenting.

"That's the job of the Hogwarts caretaker, taking care of all the paintings, antiques and treasures that this old castle holds."

Harry looked at the walls and the hundreds of painting that could be seen just from that one spot, "Must be a big job," He concluded.

"Not particularly. The protection charms on most of the frames protect the paintings. Most of the antiques are behind glass cabinets. That's why I pitch in with cleaning I get bored."

Hermione thought about what she was overhearing. It made sense in a way; the school had house elves for cleaning, so there was no need for a caretaker in the traditional sense. However, the paintings would need care often enough that it was worth keeping someone on staff. It would also explain why filch was so against magic in the corridors, and especially magical toys like fanged frisbees. She wondered how many paintings he'd had to fix over the years because of a stray spell or mis-thrown frisbee.

Soon, the fat lady was back in her rightful place and Mr filch was taking away the painting of the crazy knight that had made life difficult for the Gryffindor students for too long.

"Mistletoe."

The fat lady smiled, clearly overjoyed to be back at her job, and swung forward to let them in.

_-_**_ϟϟϟ_**_-_

Hermione fumbled with the door to her dorm room, her hands full of her clothes which had been in Harry's trunk. Hermione grinned at the memory of Harry trying to take his trunk up the girls' staircase, so that Hermione could unpack her stuff easily.

But, as soon as he had put one foot on the bottom step, the stairs had transfigured themselves into a smooth slide, stopping not only Harry, but anyone, from getting up them temporarily.

Door open, Hermione dumped her new clothes on her bed while she opened her trunk. She was suddenly hit by a weird feeling that _something _was missing. She hoped that she hadn't left anything at home. She was halfway through hanging her new stuff in the wardrobe compartment of her trunk when she realised what was missing;

"Where's crookshanks!?"

She had expected her ginger fluff ball to be on her bed, but he evidently wasn't there, and neither was Fay, the girl who Hermione had asked to watch him over Christmas. Hermione finished putting away the bundle of clothes she had just brought up before she went to get more of her stuff from Harry hoping that she would find her pesky familiar somewhere.

Hermione found Harry and Ron in their dorm. Harry was collecting the last of her things from his trunk. She barely had a chance to notice what Harry was doing before Ron was in Hermione's face. In an instant he was waving around a sheet like a lunatic, "Scabbers! My _poor _Scabbers..." Ron ranted as he waved the sheet wildly in Hermione's face.

Surprised by Ron's sudden anger and the aggressive flailing of his arms, Hermione retreated into a corner. She worried that Ron might just lose it over whatever he was so distraught about and attack her.

Luckily, Harry was there. He had gotten himself between Ron and her and was almost physically forcing Ron back, putting a small bit of space between her and Ron.

Ron stopped trying to advance towards Hermione and backed up, shaking his head at Harry in disbelief, "I should have known you would take her side. Her damn cat has eaten scabbers and you still take her side. Well, we are done," with that, he threw down the sheet and stormed out of the room.

Hermione found herself wrapped up in Harry's arms as he held her. Now that she was getting over her surprise at Ron suddenly targeting her like that, she was getting angry. How _dare _he corner her like that? If she were to walk down to the common room and hex him it would serve him right.

She was considering doing just that when she remembered that it was Harry who was hugging her.

Well...maybe she could do it later. Hugs from Harry took priority over hexing Ronald bloody Weasley.

By the time Harry broke the hug, Hermione had calmed down and had decided to give Ron a chance. If his pet had just been killed, that was the kind of thing that could lead to such distressed behaviour. It wasn't right, and in no way did she deserve his hatred, but she could understand it.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked as his arms loosened a little.

"Yes...but no," She paused for a moment before continuing, "He makes me _so _angry; I hate that he cornered me like that. I didn't even know what he was going on about until just before he stormed out. I wanted to chase after him and hex him into next week."

Harry just held on to her for a few moments before he let her go and asked, "And what do you want to do now?"

She hesitated for almost a minute, trying to be angry at Ron, but she kept coming back to how she would feel if crooks was killed.

Would she act anymore rational than Ron had?

"I think I should apologize. If crooks has killed scabbers then Ron has a real reason to be upset."

"He still shouldn't have treated you that way. Like McGonagall said, he was the one who brought a rat to a building filled with cats."

"I know, but I still see why he's upset. Doesn't matter why, losing a pet hurts."

_-_**_ϟϟϟ_**_-_

A few minutes later, Hermione followed Harry down the boys' stairs. Each of them were carrying more of Hermione's things that had been in Harry's trunk. This time it was her Christmas presents and photos, stuff that she hadn't been able to carry the first time.

Hermione hastened up to the girls' dorms and set her bundle, that included her new gramophone, onto her bed, before running back down to Harry to relieve him of his load of her stuff.

Even if she could understand it, the magical protection which kept the boys out of the girls' dorms was sometimes a total pain.

She got to the bottom of the girls' stairs and found Harry waiting patiently for her, his arms still full of her things. Ron was sat on the other side of the common room glaring at them. She considered going over to talk to him, but decided that it was probably better if they both had a chance to calm down first.

She was just about to release Harry of her things when the portrait hole opened up and Fay walked in. Hermione asked Harry to wait a moment as she wanted to talk with the girl, and started off across the common room.

Crookshanks jumped through the portrait hole following Fay. Hermione, happy to see her familiar, started rushing over to him. The problem was, she wasn't the only one who had seen the ginger half-kneazle as he bounded into the common room.

Ron angry at Crookshanks, had longer legs than Hermione and was sitting closer to the portrait hole, meaning that he got there first. Hermione's heart dropped into her stomach as she watched Ron aim the strongest kick he could at her crooks.

Hermione's head was filled with images of broken bones and damaged organs, but luckily for her, crooks was fast when he wanted to be. Ron's kick missed and Crookshanks was off running beneath chairs and tables and up the girls' staircase.

Hermione was angry.

Scratch that; Hermione was _absolutely livid_.

In a single moment, all sympathy she may have felt for Ron was replaced with a white-hot anger. Ron, who was still focused on her cat, didn't even see the spell coming. Hermione's spell hit him square in the chest, blasting him through a table and into a wall with a satisfying crash. As Ron fell unconscious, Hermione bolted up the stairs to the girls' dorms, looking for her familiar.

Hermione found him curled up on her bed next to her new gramophone. She walked over and started scratching his ears in the way she knew he liked, "How's my baby? Are you Ok? Did the mean Ronald try to hurt you?" Hermione cooed at her cat in a comforting tone. Crookshanks climbed into her lap and she was soon hugging and fussing over him as though she hadn't seen him in a year, rather than two weeks.

Not long after, Fay walked into the dorm, carrying the last of Hermione's belongings that Harry had been holding. She came over to Hermione's bed and then set down the load with Hermione's other things.

She dug in her robes and pulled out a handkerchief that she handed Hermione as she sat down next to her, "So...what was all that about? Harry just asked me to bring up your stuff and said he was taking Ron to the hospital wing."

Hermione hadn't realised she was crying until she was handed the handkerchief. She used it to wipe her eyes, glad that she wasn't wearing any eye makeup, or she would have looked a right state, "Apparently, Crooks ate Ron's rat Scabbers. Ron tried to get revenge, I guess, but I couldn't let him hurt crooks."

"No...he didn't."

Hermione looked up at Fay, confused as to what she was saying, "I saw Ron with his rat this morning as I left the common room, and Crookshanks came with me," She contemplated a second before she continued, "When I got up this morning I was feeding Crookshanks like you asked me to. He has been _so _good while you were away. A bit grumpier than normal, but I think he just missed you." Hermione hugged her cat closer to her; she had missed him just as much as he had missed her.

"But, this morning, I noticed that he had a cut and a clump of his fur was missing," She showed Hermione the cut on Crookshanks' leg. Hermione examined it. It wasn't much, it looked like he had caught himself on something sharp possibly.

"It didn't look like much to me, but I'm not an expert, so I took him down to see Professor Hagrid. You know, just to be safe," She sounded nervous but Hermione assured her that she had done the right thing.

"Anyway, as I left, I remember seeing Ron in the common room with that rat of his. I noticed because Ron was making a fuss over having been looking for him for days. So anyway, I took crookshanks down to Professor Hargrid's house, and the Professor was happy to look at him. He said it was nothing to worry about and that it would heal in a few weeks on its own. He did put a bit of some type of ointment on the cut to prevent infection but that was it. After that, we got talking about magical creatures.

Professor Hagrid was complaining that he couldn't bring a dragon to the school to show in class. He really knows his stuff about dragons, we were talking for a few hours. Oh, I did suggest he look into getting a few fairy dragons, or some pseudo-dragon to show the class. They are only about the size of cats, so they are nowhere near as dangerous as an actual full-sized dragon. So, that could mean a fun, interesting lesson soon.

But the point is, crooks and I have been at Professor Hagrid's place all morning. So there is no chance he attacked Ron's rat. Crookshanks was sleeping on that big dog the Professor had. We came back up to the castle just now, because Hagrid was starting to offer me lunch and, as nice as he is, the stew he was cooking didn't look too great, and after trying his rock cakes, I wasn't particularly assured of his ability In the kitchen. And also, I wanted to get him-" she scratched Crooks' ears, "-back up here in time to meet you when you got back. How are you back so early anyway? The express won't be here for a few hours."

Hermione digested everything that Fay had just told her, and all her regret for hexing Ron instantly disappeared. She didn't know what had happened to Ron's rat, but her familiar was completely innocent, "Oh, Harry and I floo'ed back instead of taking the train. Some people were worried that if Harry, and I assume Neville, were on the train, then LeStrange might attack it to get to them. And as Harry spent Christmas at my place, I took the floo with him."

Fay was a little surprised upon hearing that Harry had spent Christmas at Hermione's home, "Wow...your parents must be super chill. If I asked my mum if I could have a boyfriend spend a few weeks at home with me, my mum would flip."

"Yeah, but my parents like Harry and he has nowhere else to go. Honesty, it was my Nan who didn't trust Harry the most. She kept walking in on us, trying to catch us doing something against the rules."

The two of them soon fell into talking about their Christmas. Apparently, Fay had stayed at Hogwarts because her mother was a healer at St Mungo's and was too busy at this time of the year for a family Christmas, while her father was too concerned with his new family with'whore of a secretary' to give two shits about Fay.

Fay listened as Hermione described her relatively normal Christmas with Harry, and she fawned a little over Hermione's description of midnight on New Years. Hermione had left out that it was their first time saying that they loved each other, leaving Fay thinking that it was just a sweet moment between her and Harry rather than the milestone it truly was.

After about ten minutes, they were interrupted by Professor McGonagall walking into the dorm, "Miss Granger, may I speak to you in my office please? Now."

The Professor didn't sound at all happy.

Hermione guessed that with Harry taking Ron to the hospital wing, Professor McGonagall of course had been notified. Hermione felt her heart clench at the thought that Harry may have gone to the Head of their House himself.

Hermione followed the Lioness of Gryffindor through the common room and out to the sixth floor, but was surprised when, instead of going down the grand stairway as Hermione expected, she was led along the sixth floor corridor to an office she had never seen before.

Seeing the look of confusion on Hermione's face, Professor McGonagall explained, "This is the head of Gryffindor office, I normally use the office for the deputy head, but this is closer and I have another thing to deal with up here after speaking to you, so I don't fancy running up and down the stairs."

The Head of Gryffindor office was slightly smaller than her regular office and was decorated in the same reds, golds and dark woods as the common room. But here and there were the odd touch of tartan that Hermione presumed were the Professor's own personal touch.

"Have a seat Miss Granger," The stern Professor persona was back as she took her seat and directed Hermione to do the same, "I want you to tell me what happened in the incident with Mr Weasley. I asked Mr Potter, but he refused to give me an answer, instead insisting that I talk to you," She was eventually annoyed that Harry had refused to talk, but Hermione's heart lightened; she wouldn't have blamed Harry for talking, but it still would have hurt.

Hermione told the story exactly as she remembered it, with her going up to Harry's dorm to get the last of her things from Harry's trunk. Professor McGonagall got a stern look on her face at the mention of Hermione entering the boys' dorm but said nothing. Then about how Ron had suddenly been right in her face, shouting gibberish while waving a sheet, and how Harry had had to get in between the two of them before Ron completely lost it, and how only then did he reveal that he thought her cat had eaten his rat.

She went on to explain that she had tried to give Ron some space to cool off while she went back to putting her things away, but that Ron, still angry, had attacked her cat as soon as he saw him. Then, with her head hanging low, she admitted to hexing Ron for trying to hurt her familiar, and then about finding out that her familiar was with Fay all day at Hagrid's and hadn't done anything at all to Ron's rat.

Once Hermione finished, the two of them sat there in silence for a while. Hermione's mind was conjuring all sorts of things from detention for the rest of the year to being kicked out of the school and having her wand snapped.

"I am inclined to believe you Miss Granger. You didn't try to gloss over your rule breaking, which I find to be honourable. Firstly, you know you shouldn't be in the boys' dorms without a genuine reason. I know Madam Pomfrey has given you special dispensation to help you deal with your nightmares, but getting your stuff from Harry's trunk is hardly that. In future, get Harry to bring it down to the common room for you.

As for your hexing of Mr Weasley; that he was attacking your familiar does mitigate your actions somewhat, but your choice of hex was more than a little excessive. I can understand protecting your familiar, but Mr Weasley is in the hospital wing with a fairly bad concussion, and one of the tables in the common room will need replacing."

"Considering everything, I think that thirty points from Gryffindor and four Friday night detentions with me is an appropriate punishment, and I shall be having words with Mr Weasley as well regarding attacking students' familiars."

Hermione hung her head, ashamed of herself and quite upset. She hadn't gotten a detention since her first year, what with the Norbert affair, and that Professor McGonagall had specified Friday nights was a shot to her heart; she and Harry spent a lot of time together doing homework.

Since Harry had Quidditch and she had her study groups, Friday nights were the only time they really had to just relax together, and what she and Harry did together when they were alone was private and between the two of them, not that she minded if anyone found out as they weren't doing anything scandalous, it just wasn't anyone's business.

However, the fact that the two of them disappeared every Friday was hard to miss for anyone, and Professor McGonagall had purposely chosen her and Harry's kind of date night, rather than doing all the detentions in one week as was more common.


	29. Chapter 29 - New Term New Problems

sorry, this chapter is so late everyone Mattys pc i still playing up. I'm still writing at my regular pace and am currently working on chapter 32 so there is no risk of this story being abandoned.

**Chapter 29 - New term, new problems**

**Monday 3rd of January **

Hermione had been too nervous yesterday to tell Harry what Professor McGonagall's punishment was. It wasn't that Harry would be mad at her, she just didn't want to see that look of disappointment. Not in her, but in the loss of their date night, especially since they had already lost their Hogsmeade weekends due to LeStrange. The loss of the one night a week they could just relax together would be a blow to both of them.

But, Hermione had gotten off easily in truth; thirty points and four detentions for putting a fellow student in the hospital wing for at least a night was relatively light.

In fact, she may spend less time in detention than Ron was spending in the hospital wing.

She had also heard that Ron had gotten the same punishment as her, only his detentions were set for Saturdays, when he liked to join in some of the pickup games of Quidditch. In total, her and Ron's 'fight' had cost Gryffindor sixty house points.

Things were also frosty with the rest of the Weasleys. Percy, Fred, George and Ginny were all understandably sticking by their brother, even if they understood Hermione protecting her cat. Percy was the coldest at first, as Scabbers had apparently been his first until he had gotten his owl Hermies.

Hermione couldn't understand that. As far as she was concerned, Crookshanks was with her for life. Even if she got a second pet, she would never let anyone else have her baby.

Percy had warmed back up to her considerably once Fay had told him that Crooks had been with her and Hagrid when whatever had happened to Ron's rat occured. Percy had always been one for justice, and he could see that Hermione and Crookshanks clearly couldn't be blamed for what happened to Scabbers.

The twins were the warmest over all. As far as they were concerned, Hermione may have gone overboard in the moment, but it was all Ron's fault for not keeping a better eye on scabbers, even after he had lost him over Christmas.

Ginny was giving Hermione the silent treatment; the way she saw it, her brother was hurt and Hermione had done it. Nothing else mattered.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione was currently walking to breakfast with Harry as he was explaining his latest brainwave for his Runes project, "So then, after seeing the charm on the waitress' phone over Christmas, I was thinking; what if I hung a charm off the handle of the wand? The runes would be etched into the charm and you would actually be summoning the charm, but as it is connected to the wand, the wand would come to. What do you think?"

"I think it's brilliant. I hate the idea of carving runes into my wand, even if the runes wouldn't damage it. What if you made a mistake in the carving? It's not like it could just be undone. You would need to buy a new wand, and people love their wands. I think some would give up a limb before they voluntarily gave up their wands."

Hermione watched Harry for his reaction. He thought about it, before nodding, "I wouldn't have understood it before my first year, but my wand is practically _like _a limb. It's almost a part of me." A look crossed Harry's face, the same one he got whenever he was hiding something from her. She considered asking but instead thought that coming clean herself might prompt him to tell her himself,

"Harry, about what happened yesterday-"

"-Ron was being a total dick, don't worry about it. You were a lot more in control than I was with Aunt Marge."

That Harry saw what Hermione had done as the same as standing up to his abusive aunt gave Hermione a minor internal conflict. On one hand, she could see how Harry would relate the two incidents; they were both defending their familiars from a potentially lethal attack, but comparing Ron's lack of tact when talking with Hermione to the years of abuse Harry had suffered just felt so wrong.

"That's not what I mean Harry. Professor McGonagall, she..." Hermione trailed off, trying to think of the right words.

"Let me guess," Harry picked up in the silence, "I know she docked points from you. I guess she also gave you detention?" Hermione nodded, and Harry shrugged, "Detention isn't _that _bad Hermione. I know we had a bad experience with your first detention, but you'll probably just need to write lines or something menial, like polishing the trophies," Harry tried to comfort her.

"It's not so much the _what _that's gotten me down. It's the _when_."

"Oh?"

"Four nights."

"That's not too bad. You'll breeze through them."

"Four _Friday nights_," Hermione finished. She waited to see what his reaction would be.

"Well, that sucks. Still, it's only four, and it's not like we aren't together the rest of the time anyway."

The two of them sat down at the Gryffindor table and helped themselves to the day's breakfast offering. Given that they had just spent two weeks with her parents and their healthier breakfast options, Hermione had wasn't surprised when Harry started to add stuff like bacon, black pudding, mushrooms, eggs and toast to his plate. Harry didn't indulge in unhealthy breakfasts very often, so Hermione let him get away with it.

He offered to fix her a plate but she refused. While she was getting herself a bowl of porridge, Harry poured each of them a cup of tea.

Hermione took a sip of her tea and was surprised that it was sweet, "Harry you _know _I don't put sugar in my tea."

"But...you _do _like your tea sweet."

"Yes, but you know I avoid sugar."

"Good thing I didn't add any sugar then."

Harry was grinning at her. She got a suspicion and tried her tea again. Now that she was looking for it, she could taste the difference, noticing the slightly metallic and dry aftertaste of artificial sweeteners.

Harry, still grinning, held up a small plastic box with a red button on top. It was the same brand of sweetener she used at home, only in little pills instead of a powder.

Harry handed her the dispenser, "I didn't think it was fair that Hogwarts only had sugar and honey, so when I saw this over Christmas, I thought I would grab a few for you."

Hermione was surprised by how touched she was by the small gift. It was only a pack of sweeteners, but it showed how Harry paid enough attention to her to know it was something that she could use, and that he was still thinking about her, even when doing something as mundane as shopping for groceries. She was also a little annoyed at herself for not thinking of a pack of sweeteners, it was obvious in hindsight.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Tuesday 4th January**

Hermione was making her way to the library for one of her study groups. This was one of her newer ones, having only started this year when she had taken Arithmancy. Harry, meanwhile, was off getting sweaty with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Here kitty kitty, come to mummy. Oh wait, that's not my kneazle, just the _mudblood _pretending," Hermione looked to see who was talking and saw a group of Slytherin and Ravenclaw girls from her year jeering at her. At the front of the group stood Millicent Bulstrode.

Bulstrode had been giving Hermione a hard time ever since their first year, but after the polyjuice indecent it had gotten worse. Hermione's tail and ears were a larger copy of the half-kneazle that the hair had come from.

As the cat was hers, Bulstrode had recognized the tail and ears, figuring out that Hermione had planned and attempted to impersonate her. Ever since then, she was intolerable whenever she caught Hermione alone. She had tried once in front of Harry, but Harry's explosive reaction convinced her not to do so again.

Harry's reaction had also convinced Hermione never to tell him about Bulstrode's attitude. It was Harry threatening Bulstrode last year that showed the school that Harry wouldn't tolerate people bullying Hermione anymore. And it was Harry's week of detention that convinced Hermione not to tell him about her bullies unless it became a real problem. Fortunately for both Hermione and Bulstrode, the Slytherin only kept her vindictive behaviour towards Hermione at words, so it was nothing for Hermione, or Harry, to get worked up over.

"You really need some new material Bulstrode; the 'kitty-kitty' stuff is getting boring. Maybe try asking a five-year-old; I'm sure they could come up with something better," Hermione started back on her way to the library when she was stopped by another voice, "You know mogblood, you should try grovelling. In fact, you should probably start practising every chance you get, before I have it made law that you _houseless _have to bow before any decent witch or wizard you come across," She turned back towards a smug-looking boy with blond hair; of course, it was Draco Malfoy.

"Houseless? You remember I'm in Gryffindor, right? Or, do we need to get you to Madam Pomfrey? Perhaps have you looked at for head wounds."

"Not _school _houses you ignorant mudblood. _Noble _houses, like Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Black. The true power of wizarding Britain," Malfoy looked even more smug now than before, if possible, "Once I am seventeen I will be able to claim the vacant seat as the warlock of the house of Black and then the power in the Wizengamot will finally shift to putting you mudbloods and houseless in your proper place. On your knees. Begging for table scraps. Like some type of animal...a _cat _even," All the Slytherin and Ravenclaw girls had a laugh at the idea of Hermione begging like a cat.

Hermione was not one to be cowed quite that easily and smoothly replied, "If I ever bow to you Malfoy, don't expect to survive it," she turned and walked on to the library, not caring about how they reacted.

She knew she should feel bad about threatening Malfoy, but, thanks to Harry, she knew that Voldemort was alive and was trying to restore himself.

It was a matter of _when_, not _if_, there would be another war.

And, as a Muggleborn, she wouldn't have the option to not get involved and it was obvious what side Malfoy was going to choose. There was a good chance that in the end, it would come to wands between the two of them.

Hermione found half of her study group already setting up at one of the library's larger tables.

Leanne and Fay Dunbar, Terry Boot, Susan Bones were grabbing potentially useful books from the shelves, or snagging a few spare rolls of parchment as they got everything ready for their study session.

Hermione watched Leanne and Fay working together with a new wonder. Before Christmas, Hermione had assumed that Leanne and Fay were cousins that had known each other for years, before Fay had talked about her 'poor excuse of a father' and the 'worthless whore' he had started a new family with.

It turned out, Leanne was _not _a Dunbar by birth, but had taken the name after her mother had married Fay's father.

Hermione had expected the two to be at each other's throats, but they seemed to get on well.

Hermione set her things down and joined in setting everything up. She pulled out her homework assignment and had a look at it; anything to concentrate on that would take her mind off the encounter with the bigots. She looked over the number of calculations that had been assigned, wishing that she could bring a calculator to Hogwarts.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione walked down to Hagrid's hut, as she had planned to meet Harry there once she was finished with her study group and Harry had finished playing on his broomstick. Hermione needed to thank Hagrid; firstly for the fudge that he had sent them for Christmas.

While it needed softening over a radiator before they could eat it, and Hermione's parents had been horrified at a present with so much sugar in it, Hagrid's treacle fudge was the one thing Hagrid could cook that Hermione would not only eat, but would gladly go back to have seconds.

More importantly though, she had to thank Hagrid for looking at Crookshanks. Yes, he was fine, but Hermione was immensely grateful that Hagrid had taken the time to check, as well as inadvertently providing her ginger half-kneazle with an alibi for the disappearance of Scabbers.

Hermione knocked on the door and after almost a minute Harry opened it and let her in. Hermione wasn't surprised that Harry had gotten there first; Hagrid's hut was definitely closer to the Quidditch pitch than it was the school.

What _did _surprise Hermione was that Hagrid wasn't his normal happy self. In fact, he looked like someone had just killed his dog. It wasn't hard for Hermione to put it together; Hagrid loved all animals and Malfoy happened to be at the front of her mind after their encounter earlier.

The Ministry had made its decision, and it didn't look good for Buckbeak.

"Oh _Hagrid_! Have the Ministry made their decision on Buckbeak's case?" Hermione asked.

Hagrid nodded, too upset to use words, passing her a piece of parchment with the official seal of the Ministry of magic, both at the head of the page and also embossed into the parchment itself. Hermione read through the letter three times to make sure she understood it all.

Hagrid had apparently been cleared of the charges of 'negligence', though Hermione was a little upset that Hagrid hadn't even told them that he was facing such a charge.

Buckbeak, however, was considered a 'dangerous' creature and was to be _destroyed_. There was a mandatory appeal for Buckbeak if Hagrid wanted it though. But, until then, Buckbeak needed to be isolated away from people.

"There is an appeal, so Beaky still has hope. And this time, Harry and I will help. The library has plenty of books on wizarding law," Harry glared at her for volunteering his time, but it lacked any force.

"Hermione is right; this time we'll help you prepare for the trial."

The next hour was filled with her and Harry cheering up Hagrid enough so that Hermione could get the information she needed from her giant-like friend. Information such as the exact charges and how they were worded, so that she could look up the correct laws and help formulate relevant counter-arguments.

Hagrid wasn't as helpful as Hermione had hoped; a combination of being upset at the discussion and just not knowing the laws meant that getting information from him was, ironically, like trying to pull teeth from a Hippogriff.

A lot of hard work, only to find out that they don't have any teeth.

After that they moved the conversation around to Crookshanks and Christmas presents, "Well that's enough of that. I think I have all the information I need to start the research. Anyway, what we came down here for originally was to thank you for taking a look at Crookshanks."

Harry jumped on the change of topic, "Yeah, and to thank you for the fudge you sent us for Yule. It was totally moreish. Hermione had to hide the box from her parents cause they kept thieving pieces from."

Hermione had to stifle a giggle at the memory.

Her parents had seen the tin of fudge and had started talking about '_how too much sugar can rot teeth_', but both had a piece once Hermione had softened the rock-hard fudge, only '_just to try_', and after that had they kept going back for more. They even went as far as to say they are doing it to protect Hermione and Harry's teeth.

Hagrid brightened up as Harry and Hermione recounted what had happened over Christmas, even getting a laugh out of him when they told him of trying to get away from Hermione's Nan for a morning to go to Diagon Alley.

When the two left, Hagrid was in much higher spirits than they had found him.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Thursday 6th January**

Harry and Hermione were sat waiting for their next lesson in the Runes classroom. They'd had herbology just before lunch, with the cleaning charms Hermione had picked up from her copy of '_a compendium of household charms' _helping the two to clean up quicker, meaning that they had gotten to lunch rather quickly, instead of having to detour to clean the dirt off their hands in a bathroom. Because of this, they managed to finish their meal just as the main crowd of students was arriving.

Rather than waiting around and being jostled in the crowd, the two of them had decided that they would go wait outside their next class, where they could talk in relative peace and quiet.

Earlier in the year, they would have gone outside for some fresh air, but the January weather wasn't something that Hermione felt like braving just for fun. Before Christmas, the snow was at least a pretty scene to view, but now it was mostly very cold and very wet mush. When they arrived, they found the room empty, and since Professor Babbling's class was mostly focused on quills, ink and parchment, containing little of value or danger, the Professor rarely bothered to lock the room.

The two of them had gladly taken the opportunity to sit in relatively comfortable chairs instead of standing in the unheated corridors. Harry was a little disappointed that Hermione wanted to go over their Christmas homework again before class, instead of taking advantage of the empty class, with no one around, but had quickly seen the wisdom when she reminded him that someone could walk in at any moment after guessing at what he was thinking about.

They are halfway through their work when they were in fact interrupted.

Two students came crashing through the door.

At first, Hermione thought they were fighting, but she was quick to blush as she realised that the two of them weren't fighting _at all_, but were kissing. More surprising was who the two students were.

Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davies had been so caught up in each other that they hadn't even noticed Hermione and Harry. The two Slytherins continued to kiss for a moment, before turning round to see the two Gryffindor students staring at them in disbelief, and then the two of them froze like rabbits caught in the headlights of a car.

Harry was the first to find his voice after a moment of silence between the two pairs, "Well...that was a surprise. Did the two of you have a good Christmas?"

The three girls just stared at him for almost a minute, before Tracy spoke up, a little meekly, "It was...good. We've been meaning to catch you both since you got back, to thank you for the Christmas presents."

After Christmas, when Harry no longer had to worry about his girlfriend finding out her present, he had told her about the records he had sent to both Daphne and Tracy.

"_I_ should be the one thanking _you_," Hermione replied, "If you hadn't helped Harry, I never would've gotten such an amazing gift from him," Hermione was starting to put her thoughts back together after what she had seen. It wasn't that she disapproved, it was just unexpected and had sent her mind reeling.

"So...are we just going to ignore what happened?" Daphne, who normally looked impervious to everything that happened around her, looked shockingly nervous.

"Do you want to talk about it? Harry doesn't seem to mind, and I know I don't," Hermione tried to be as sympathetic as she could. Seeing the cool and in control Daphne so nervous was a red flag, as it showed that Daphne was definitely worried about something.

"Can the two of you please keep mine and Tracy's relationship to your selves, please? It's just..."

"...The details aren't really important, but her mother wouldn't approve, so can you two please keep it quiet?" Tracy finished for her.

Neither Harry nor Hermione hesitated to give their word of secrecy. Hermione's parents had always thought her to be accepting of people and their life choices*. Harry hadn't been told such things with the Dursleys. In fact, his aunt and uncle had called such people immoral freaks. This, however had the opposite effect on Harry than they wanted; if the Dursleys didn't like such people, then fine, but Harry was determined not to be like them, and as such, didn't take their stance on the matter.

Daphne looked a little surprised that they had given their word so quickly and easily, but recovered her ice-queen like persona, "Thank you," she said as she and Tracy took their normal seats at the same table as Harry and Hermione. Tracy took the opportunity to sit as close as physically possible to Daphne, no longer uncomfortable with affectionate displays in front of them.

Harry tried to break the tension that threatened to build, "At least you have someone who you can talk to about everything now."

Tracy nodded, "That's true. It's a little stressful not being able to tell anyone."

"That raises a question. If you need to be so careful and everything, how did you not check the room before you uh..." Hermione trailed off, trying to figure out a mature way to say what she wanted to say.

Harry picked up the sentence, however, before she could think of something, "...before you burst in, trying to eat each others faces?"

Hermione slapped Harry in the arm for his crude phrasing, "Like your technique is any better!" Tracy just giggled at The two of them.

Harry just smiled back at her, unfazed, and asked, "Do you think I need more practice?"

Hermione was surprised that Harry had flirted with her, only because Daphne and Tracy were there, and up until now he had always been more weary around the two Slytherins. Harry's flirting was something he had been getting more confident with for a while.

Hermione went along with it, leaning closer to him, as if she was going to kiss him, "Lots more practice," she said in a slightly sultry tone, and just as Harry leaned in to accept her kiss, she moved her head back to avoid his searching lips, "_However_...we first need to go over our Christmas homework!" She smiled wickedly.

Tracy laughed at the two of them, and even Daphne's icy mask cracked a little smile, while Harry cried foul, literally, "Foul! That is _so _not fair."

Hermione only continued to smile at him, "Dear, all is fair in love and war."

Daphne chipped in, "There's a difference?"

Tracy groaned, "That explains you _so _much Daph."

This time it was Harry and Hermione who laughed, "But anyway, Harry's idiocracy aside, how come you didn't check the room?" Hermione nudged the conversation back on track.

"Well, this room is always empty Thursday lunchtime, and I did look, but maybe we became a little complacent as I couldn't have looked properly," Daphne answered, "Honesty, we are lucky it is you two. Someone else might not be so _accommodating _to keeping our secret."

Tracy nodded, "I know for a fact that at least half of the Slytherins in our year would try and blackmail us."

Hermione was a little surprised that Tracy assumed that so many of her close companions would try to hold and use something like that against them, "I thought that wizarding Britain was a lot more relaxed about homosexually than the Muggle world. Because you didn't have the Christian religion and its hatred of such people, I heard the wizarding world was fairly accepting of them."

Tracy explained, "On the whole, you are right. But, individuals can still have their own opinions."

"I get that, but I'm surprised that so many in Slytherin would be against it."

"Oh no, they aren't, but Slytherin house is a place for the cunning. Everyone is always looking for a weakness to exploit, to give them an edge."

"Well, we won't tell anyone, will we Hermione?"

"No, definitely not."

Before the conversation could go any further, their classmates started to arrive as lunch had ended. With the promise to keep Daphne and Tracy's relationship to themselves, the conversation moved to polite chit chat.

Hermione let Harry recount their Christmas as she pulled her homework and pretend to finish reading it, though she was only pretending as she was taking the time to puzzle out something else. It was something that she hadn't ever thought about until their conversation with Daphne and Tracy. Something she found confusing, and maybe a little interesting.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Friday 7th January**

Hermione knocked on the door to Professor McGonagall's office at precisely seven o'clock. There was no answer, so after a few moments she tried again with the same result. Hermione, now fairly frustrated and unable to just leave, had to wait there.

After five or six minutes, she was considering just leaving a note and going to the library to do some more research for Buckbeak's case, but before she could pull out a bit of parchment, Professor McGonagall came striding down the corridor.

"I apologize for being late Miss Granger; a few of the N.E.W.T students stopped me after dinner to ask about their homework, and I lost track of time a little," She opened the door to her office and motioned for Hermione to go in first. She pointed to the one side of her desk where there was a chair and a stack of parchment waiting.

"You'll be helping me with my marking. These-" she indicated the stack of parchment, "-Are the Yule homework assignments for my first and second years. You will underline everything they got wrong, and on a separate piece of parchment, you will write out a correction for the parts that are wrong. Then, stick your corrections to the assignment. You know how I mark by now. Afterwards, stack them for me to check and grade. That will free up enough of my time to focus on the homework from the O.W.L students. I trust that you remember the work from your first two years here."

Hermione was a little stunned that she would be correcting homework for her detention. She had expected lines or something like that, but then she remembered Hagrid's words from her first detention, "You'll do something useful. That's 'ow it's done at Hogwarts."

Hermione sat down in the chair and picked up the first assignment; it was from a first-year Hufflepuff. Once she had read through it, she reckoned about a third of it was wrong. As instructed, she underlined the parts that were wrong and wrote up a page of corrections. She put the assignment and the corrections together with a weak variant of a sticking charm, then set them aside and moved on to the next.

Hermione soon found her rhythm and lost herself in the work. She found herself writing out the same corrections a lot, as a number of students seemed to have the same misunderstandings. It was boring, but it was also a good review of the topics covered.

It was half-past eight when Hermione had finished correcting the last assignment and Professor McGonagall let her go.

Hermione left the Professor's office and began meandering her way back to the common room.

She thought that the detention itself wasn't too bad at all.

The bigger punishment was missing out on her night with Harry.

She was just wondering if she could salvage an hour in the common room with him. Technically, it would put them past the third years nine o'clock curfew, but it wasn't unusual for students to stay in the common room past curfew, as long as they didn't disturb a prefect by being too loud, or if their head of house didn't come by. Not that Professor McGonagall came by Gryffindor tower all that often.

Hermione was startled out of her thoughts when something grabbed a hold of her and pulled her into an alcove. Hermione was just about to take a swing at whomever or whatever it was, but two things stopped her. Firstly, she couldn't see them, and secondly, whatever it was spoke, "It's me."

"_Harry James Potter,_ what on Earth do you think you are doing!?" Hermione was quite a bit mad that Harry had just grabbed her like that.

Hermione saw a silvery ripple in the air, and the next thing she knew, she was under Harry's invisibility cloak with him, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Can you just trust me for a bit and come with me?"

Hermione decided that she would see what Harry was up to before she decided if she was truly mad at him or not, "Fine. Lead the way, but curfew is in about twenty minutes."

Harry flashed her his biggest grin and simply said, "Let me worry about that."

The two of them still fit under the cloak well enough, but Hermione was glad it was Harry she was under it with. It would have been awkward to be pressed so close to almost anyone else.

Harry lead her to the Room of Requirement before she decided to question him, "Harry, what are you planning?"

"Go in and have a look," He was still wearing that annoying but stupidly handsome grin of his.

Hermione checked that the corridor was clear before she slipped from under the cloak and into the room.

The room was similar to how they normally set it up, but it was the changes that stood out. Most noticeably, at first, the room was lit with about fifty candles; some over the fireplace, some in sconces on the walls and some just floating in the air. There were bunches of blue and white flowers on every crevice, giving the room a splash of colour and a sweet floral scent.

The gramophone was the same one the room always conjured, but the record that was playing was one of the relaxing ones she had brought to school this term. She had no clue how Harry had gotten it from her dorm room.

The biggest change was that the sofa was gone from in front of the fire. Instead, there was a giant sheepskin rug on the floor that was way too big to have ever come from a single sheep. A number of giant cushions were next to the rug and there was a low table that was laid out with a full cheeseboard, with crackers, fruits and chutneys, along with a few bottles of what, at first glance, looked to be white wine, but on closer inspection was just grape juice in a fancy bottle.

Hermione heard Harry step in behind her. He put his arms around her and pulled her close against him, "Happy anniversary love."

Hermione melted against him.

Their anniversary was a contentious issue between them, because they didn't agree on when it was; Hermione considered it to be when Harry had told Ron that '_he was going to stand by Hermione no matter what'_. That was between Christmas and New Year.

Harry considered it to be the day he had manned up and asked her to be his girlfriend, which had been on the ninth. As Hermione had already considered them boyfriend and girlfriend at that point, she had been a little confused, but had said yes immediately.

The seventh was actually the anniversary of something they did agree on.

Their first kiss.

Hermione smiled as she remembered it; she and Harry had been relaxing on her bed in the hospital wing as he read to her, when she had basically jumped him. Her body chemistry was out of whack from the transformation, and that had made her much bolder than her natural temperament. She had clambered on top of him and Harry, frozen in surprise, hadn't tried to stop her at all. It had taken Harry almost a minute of her lips pressed against his for him to start kissing her back.

Of course that was when Madam Pomfrey just had to come in, see them and break them up. As well as doing a whole host of diagnostic charms on Hermione.

After that, Madam Pomfrey had put Hermione on a suppression potion, and things with Harry had calmed down immediately, but neither of them had even considered wanting to return to being just friends.

"I thought we were going to do something tomorrow? We don't really have time before curfew," Hermione was concerned about being late back to the common room right after detention. Breaking curfew the same day as being punished seemed to be tempting fate.

Harry was still grinning at her. "Well...we could leave right now and go straight to bed and we should just about make it. Or..." he drew out that one word for a short while, "...we could stay here _all night._ As long as we stay in here and don't go wandering the corridors, no one will know."

"Our dorm mates will kn-"

Harry cut her off, "It's taken care of. It's up to you; we can stay and have our night, or we can go back to the common room."

Hermione hesitated.

She wanted to stay. It was their first year anniversary, but did she dare risk it?

"Are you sure you covered _everything_?"

"Yes. I snuck out after going up to the dorm and closed my curtains and put a silencing charm on them. I had Dobby do the same to yours, so anyone who looks will just assume that you're sleeping. McGonagall never checks the dorms anyway, and the perfects and teachers patrol the corridors, not the rooms. And even if they patrolled the corridors, I doubt they know about this place," Harry explained.

Hermione felt her resolve crumble, "Oh, screw it. Let's stay; but if we end up in the forest again, I'm totally blaming you," She kicked off her boots and took off her robe, revealing more comfortable clothing underneath. She had changed out of her school uniform after class and had decided against putting it back on for detention, just covering her casual apparel with her school robes. She sat down on the soft rug and used a few of the cushions to make herself comfortable.

Harry soon joined her his own boots and robe discarded. Harry had also changed out of his uniform, only he had dressed in the blue shirt she liked on him. He had dressed to look good instead of for comfort.

They talked for over an hour while nibbling at the food. Neither of them were overly hungry, but it made a good snack. Harry was surprised to learn that Professor McGonagall had Hermione correcting the homework from the first and second years. She also told him how her Arithmancy class was going.

He told her about how Wood was getting more and more obsessed with winning the Quidditch Cup and about how his Runes project was coming. He was apparently looking for some fake wands that he could use for testing.

Before long, the two of them were done with talking and Hermione decided that she would mark the day by recreating their first kiss. They hadn't kissed with quite that intensity since their first-ever time. Yes, they had gotten close a few times recently, but never quite _there_.

Hermione quickly swung herself so that she was sitting on top of her boyfriend as he laid there, propped up by a few cushions. At first he was surprised, but the look on his face quickly changed to that goofy grin of his that drove her nuts.

Hermione thought that Harry had been hoping that she would do this.

Under the effect of her suppression potion, she lacked the wild abandon that she had had that first time, but as she took his lips this time, she was no less enthusiastic.

This was her boyfriend; they had been together for a year now. There was no need for hesitation or second thoughts. Harry enthusiastically joined her as his lips met hers.

As her tongue invaded his mouth, she felt Harry respond underneath her.

Her own body responded as well.

They weren't ready for that step yet, but there was a big part of her that wished they were.

She felt Harry's hand slide over her ass then jerk away as he realised exactly where it was.

Hermione quickly considered how she would deal with it. Then, without breaking their kiss, she grabbed his hand and put it back on her posterior.

It was a really good end to a less than great week

Notes

Choices* I know I refer to homosexually as a choice in the fic but would like to point out that I don't consider it one. People don't choose which ice-cream tastes best or what colour they like the most or who they are attracted to. People like what they like However in the 90s Britain from what I remember people were still calling it a choice and so the fic reflects this.

Sheepskin rug - some of you may find it weird that Hermione is ok with a fur rug given her stance on snigit hunting. But remember she is a meat-eater. For me the line is if you are killing the animal anyway for food then not using as much of the animal as possible is wasteful. Also this is the room of requirement there is a good chance that the skin is conjured and was never part of a sheep.

hope you all liked the new chapter and to paraphrase the YouTubers don't forget to favourite, review and follow


	30. Chapter 30 - House pride

**Chapter 30 - House pride**

**Saturday 8th January**

Harry and Hermione were eating breakfast in the great hall. They had awoken in the Room of Requirement that morning and had gotten back to the common room about an hour after curfew was lifted. They claimed that they had gotten up early to go for a walk when they ran into Percy, who was the only Weasley Harry knew, apart from their mother, who was an early riser. A quick shower and a change of clothes later, and the two of them had headed down to breakfast.

Harry was just finishing up his tea and toast when the mail came in. When Harry had first arrived at Hogwarts, the sight of hundreds of owls swooping into the hall had looked spectacular; now that he was in third year, it was just the mail. He looked up to see if he could see his Hedwig.

Harry didn't see his familiar when he had looked, and so was startled when she swooped in from behind him and landed on the table. Harry untied the bundle from her leg and grabbed a bit of bacon, ripping it into bits that Hedwig could easily eat.

Once he had finished spoiling his owl, he inspected the bundle she had brought. There was a letter each for him and Hermione; there was also a tube wrapped up in brown paper.

He handed Hermione her letter and opened his note. It was from Dan and Emma. Harry was glad he opened the note first, as it explained that the package was a copy of the Muggle newspaper 'The Mirror', that had updates on a certain Marge Dursley's trial.

Harry quickly shoved the package into his robes; the last thing he wanted was people asking questions about why he wanted Muggle news all of a sudden.

Hermione, who seen him stow the wrapped paper, looked at him questioningly, so he handed her the note. She quickly read it and handed it back.

The look on her face told Harry that she wanted to say something. However, she held back, probably waiting until there was no one around to eavesdrop.

Hermione showed Harry what her parents had sent her. Her letter was mostly from her mum, telling Hermione that she understood why her daughter had lashed out at Ron while defending Crookshanks, but that just because her actions were understandable, that wasn't going to stop the consequences of her actions.

She advised Hermione to keep her head high, and to remember that four nights of detention was a good price for protecting her pet. The letter went on to talk about a few topics that didn't hold Harry's interest.

What interested Harry was the _second _envelope inside Hermione's letter. It was torn open from where Hermione had already looked at its contents. Upon inspection, the envelope contained a number of photos, which Harry pulled out to give them a better look.

The photos were all of Harry and Hermione, and all from that New Years eve. There were one or two that had either Harry or Hermione alone individually, though most of them had the two of them together.

There were ones Harry knew about, like when they had posed for Dan to snap a photo of them together before they went out.

However, the envelope also contained a number of surprise photos, like the one of the two of them dancing, or when the two of them sat at one of the tables, with Harry having a large grin on his face and Hermione looking as though she had been caught in the middle of a laugh; moments where they either didn't know or didn't care that there were other people there.

Harry tried to remember what it was he had said to get her to laugh like that, but drew a blank.

There was one more picture, of the two of them standing in a crowd of people outside, everyone around them ignoring them as they were too busy cheering in the New Year.

Harry and Hermione, however, were too absorbed by the kiss they were sharing to give the New Year even a moment of their time. Harry realised that this photo must have been taken mere seconds after Hermione had told him that she loved him.

Harry slipped the photo back into the envelope and handed them back to Hermione, who had been anxiously waiting for his reactions to the photos, "Do you like them?" She asked. She hoped that she hadn't embarrassed him by capturing some of their intimate moments on camera.

"I love them," he replied with a smile; he hadn't thought of taking photos, and was glad that they had something to remember those moments by.

"Do you want copies of any of them?"

Harry thought about it for a few moments. He really wanted a copy of the midnight one, but did he want a copy of any of the others?

"Well, I definitely want a copy of the one from midnight."

Hermione smiled. "I like that one as well."

"I think I also want the one of the two of us, where you're laughing, and also the one of just you, from before we left the house," he finished.

Hermione nodded as she pulled out a Muggle pen and wrote Harry's choices on the envelope, "I also want that one."

She put a '_x2'_ mark next to the note for the midnight photo, "I also want two of the one with all four of us, and a copy of just you," She added her own wants to the list.

"Why two copies of the group shot?" Harry asked, confused.

"Oh, I'm going to cut one of them up, to put in my locket." She indicated the present Harry had gotten her that was hanging around her neck. Hermione, who Harry had never known to wear much jewelry, had barely taken off the locket since Harry had given it to her.

Harry finished his last couple of bites of his toast and got up, "I'm gonna go up to the room and take a look at what I was sent."

Hermione nodded, "I'll come find you in a while, I got a few things to take care of first. Then we can go to our lesson with Professor Lupin together."

Harry told her that he would see her later and began the long climb to the seventh floor. He was glad Hermione had reminded him about their patronus lesson with Professor Lupin; after all that had happened during Christmas break, he had completely forgotten about it.

He arrived at the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and the dancing trolls, and after a quick check that the corridor was clear, he started walking back and forth to summon the room. The door popped into existence and Harry went in.

Instead of what Harry had come to think of as the date room, this time the room had remade itself into a study. The room was smaller and had a large writing desk against one wall, with a window that filled the room with a warm sunlight, which had to have been fake, as the weather around the castle was cloudy, cold and gloomy.

Harry unwrapped the copy of the daily mirror that Dan and Emma had sent him and set it on the desk before he sat down to read it. The headline was about a small plane crash in Ohio, America. It didn't take long for Harry to find what he was looking for;

_JUDGE IN DURSLEY CASE RULES IN FAVOUR OF THE POLICE._

_Yesterday, in Guildford Crown Court, the judge the right honorable John Deed*, who is praising over the case of Marjorie Eileen Dursley, opened the case against the women, that the media has dubbed the evilest women in Britain, by ruling against her motion that the evidence against her was collected illegally when the police entered her property in response to a call to the emergency services._

_Mrs Dursley claims that no such call was made and that it was a fabrication of the authorities to cover their illegal presence on her property._

_Evidence supplied by the production though included a tape of the 999* call and a record from Mrs Dursley's telephone provider showing that a call was placed to emergency services from her place of reference at the same time the emergency services have for the records call._

_When he gave the ruling, judge Deed said, "in this matter, it is not for me to determine whether Mrs Dursley made such a call, but whether the police had reasonable grounds to believe that a call was made when they entered the property. Given the evidence provided by the prosecution, I find that there was indeed reason to believe that such a call was placed from Mrs Dursley's residence on the night in question. With that in mind, I have to rule that entry to the property by the officers was in line with police policy and British law. As such, all evidence that was collected that night is deemed admissible in this trial."_

_Mrs Dursley's defence immediately tried to get the trial dismissed on the grounds that with the media coverage surrounding the case, there was no way that she could receive a fair trial. The same defence that was infamously tried by O.J simson in America after he was accused of murder. The judge, however, dismissed the motion almost immediately._

_As the defence has rejected the plea deal that the prosecution offered, the trial will begin on Monday the 10th, when the prosecution will give its opening arguments._

Harry leaned back in his chair and relaxed. Until this moment, he hadn't realised just how much stress the thought of her getting away with what she had done to those other kids was putting on him. He knew that she wouldn't be punished for what she had let her dog do to him, but the idea of her being sent to prison where she deserved to be was enough.

On the contrary, the possibility that she could be caught red-handed, then get away with it all on a technicality, had stressed him out so much that he could literally feel the tension leaving his body after reading the article.

Harry didn't know how long he sat there, just enjoying the feeling of being relaxed, but soon he was interrupted when Hermione came in.

"It's so different from how we normally have it," Hermione commented on the study setup, and a second chair appeared next to the desk and Hermione sat down. She reached for the paper, "May I?"

"Go ahead."

She quickly scanned the article, then read it in full. She had a quick look through to see if any of the other articles caught her eye. She read a few before she handed him back the paper, "Well...that's almost unbearable."

Harry looked at her, confused.

"Mr blobby* is still in the top five of the charts."

Harry suddenly remembered the ridiculous bit of music that had been on the radio when they had gone home for Christmas. He just didn't get how that song had made it into the charts, let alone to number one.

Harry couldn't help it; the sudden jump from the serious topic he was expecting to the ridiculous bit of music was too much, and he couldn't stop from laughing.

When he finally got himself under control, he found Hermione just sitting there, grinning like the description of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. "That's better. You were far too serious and brooding for such a good bit of news," she said.

"I was _relaxing_, not _brooding_," Harry insisted.

The two of them spent the morning going over their homework, hoping that if they could get enough done, then they would be able to spend Sunday in the library doing research for Buckbeak's case.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Dan and Emma opened up their dental surgery. They were the first in, like every morning. Dan went to switch on the heating and put on the kettle to make himself and his wife a nice hot mug of tea to ward off the January weather.

Emma picked up the business mail and began sorting through it.

There was today's paper. She gave it a quick glance to see if there was anything on the Dursley case, but it was void of any new details, so she put it and the few magazines that had been delivered on the small table in the waiting room, so that their clients would have something to read while they waited, then continued going through the mail.

Bill, bill, junk, invoice of a paid bill and an invitation;

_Dr E Granger & Dr D Granger_

_I am writing to invite the two of you to dinner with my wife and myself. It is my hope that with some good food and pleasant surroundings, we can finalize the contract for the drills for your network of dental surgeries._

_If you are agreeable, please contact my office so that we can arrange a time and date._

_Hope you had a lovely Christmas,_

_Vernon Dursley_

_CEO Grunnings specialty drills_

"Fucking asshole." Emma swore, after reading through it.

Dan poked his head out of the office, "What did I do now?" He held up a steaming mug of tea in her work mug "tea?"

Emma swapped the invitation in her hand for the tea in Dan's. She sipped on her tea while waiting for Dan to read the letter.

Unlike her daughter, who had been raised on artificial sweeteners, Emma couldn't stand them, so she was enjoying the one cup of sweet tea made with real sugar she allowed herself a day. When she looked back at her husband, she was surprised to see an almost predatory grin on his face.

"What's got you smiling? It's an invitation to spend an evening with human trash," Without Harry or Hermione around, Emma didn't bother to hide the venom in her voice.

"Dursley has moved to the hard sell. He is growing impatient, and that's just what I want," Dan explained.

"_Oh yes_, this mysterious plan of yours…"

Dan had had an idea when he'd discovered that the company that was trying to sell them new dental drills was partly owned by Harry's uncle, but, much to Emma's frustration, Dan had not shared his plan with her. All she knew was that it involved them not buying their new drills from Grunnings.

Emma thought about trying to piece it together again, but gave it up as a waste of time. Dan wouldn't reveal anything till he was ready and she did trust him. Instead she just went back to her cup of tea.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

After a few hours of occupying the office that had been created by the Room of Requirement, trying to get as much of their homework done as possible, Harry and Hermione now were knocking on the office door of their Defence against the Dark Arts Professor.

The door opened and the Professor's scarred face broke into a smile at the sight of his two students, "Miss granger, Mr Potter, right on time. Come in; I'll just put the kettle on," As the professor fixed tea, Harry and Hermione cleared a place for them to sit.

All the chairs, except for the one Professor Lupin had obviously been sat in, were covered in books and student assignments.

Hermione cleared the assignments while Harry moved books. She was careful to keep the loose bits of parchment that students had handed in organised by year and house so that the Professor wouldn't lose track of his marking.

Just as they were sitting down Professor Lupin brought over the tea, "So, I heard that the two of you had a good Christmas," he said as he put the tea tray on the coffee table next to the neatly stacked assignments that Hermione had just placed there.

"Um...yes, it was a nice break, but how did you hear about it, sir?" Harry asked.

"Professor McGonagall mentioned to me that she had gone from talking to you about a nice Yule break to giving Hermione detention within a couple of hours. She was a little surprised at how quickly things had changed in Gryffindor tower," Lupin explained as he poured tea into three mugs, handing them out but leaving Harry and Hermione to help themselves to milk and sugar.

They talked about the incident of Hermione's detention, and how it came to be, for a while. Harry blamed the altercation, and resulting punishment that Hermione received, on Ron, who went off on one the moment he'd seen Hermione, going on about how Ron blamed Hermione's cat for the loss of his pet rat, even though said cat wasn't even in the tower at the time.

They went on to talk about more trivial things, such as the Grindylow that the Professor was keeping in the tank in his office. After they had finished their tea however, the topic moved on to why they were there.

"Hopefully, since the two of you seemed to have such a good Christmas, maybe you'll have made some good memories that you can use when trying to produce your patroni," the Professor suggested as they stood there, waiting to try casting the charm again, "Now, it's been a few weeks, so I'll show you the wand movements again, and remember; the incantation is expecto patronum," he demonstrated the wand movements once again.

The two students considered the advice of Professor Lupin, and both separately drew upon the same memory.

_New Years_, when they had finally stopped dancing around the topic, like they had been for almost a year, saying what they had both been feeling for a while.

As they each thought about the memory, a memory much more recent and vivid than any they had tried so far, they remembered how they'd felt; that amazing feeling they'd had when they heard those words, and said them to each other for the first time.

_"I love you"._

"Expecto patronum," Hermione had gone first, and a silvery mist shot from her wand, like it did for her every time now. Only this time, the mist was a lot thicker than she'd ever managed before, and instead of wrapping itself around her, it formed a kind-of cloud in front of her.

The cloud was thick and had a definite shape to it. It was some kind of four legged animal, and a big one at that. It wasn't as big as a horse, but it was definitely bigger than even a large dog, such as an Alsatian.

Unfortunately, that was all Hermione could tell, as despite the cloud shifting in shape, it didn't seem to be able to coalesce into what the Lupin had referred to as a corporal form.

Spurred on by Hermione's leap forward, Harry tried his next, "Expecto patronum," just like Hermione, Harry had made a leap forward, and like Hermione's, his patronus was also trying to take its form.

His patronus was similar to Hermione's, in that it was a four legged animal. However, his seemed taller but less stocky, possibly an animal that was built for speed, where as Hermione's appeared to be built for power.

Hermione's patronus looked as though it was looking at Harry's, before floating over to the other mass of luminous silver mist. When the two of them touched, there was a small crackle of magic, along with a burst of light.

Suddenly, Harry and Hermione were experiencing the emotions of that night once again, as though they were living it once again, only a second time.

But...the emotions, they weren't quite right; Harry was feeling a mix of nervousness and determination, then followed by elation, all while a strong mix of desire, affection and love fought to overwhelm him.

Hermione felt a little off as well, not remembering feeling curious, before suddenly feeling like she had won the lottery. The strong feelings of love, admiration and desire felt close, but still not quite right.

After a few moments, the feelings vanished as quickly as they came.

"Well, you don't get to see that every day," Professor Lupin quipped, as he took a seat in one of the chairs, looking at the two puzzled students.

"What..." Harry started, but didn't finish.

"What...just happened?" Hermione finished for him, "It was like I was feeling my memory _again_, only the emotions were...a little wrong."

Professor Lupin sighed, "It's a rare phenomenon that happens sometimes, when two people use the same memory to cast a patronus. No one completely understands it, but it seems to require two people using the same memory, and for them to be feeling similar emotions within that memory.

The reason your emotions felt a little off was because you weren't feeling _your _emotions, rather, you were feeling how _the other person_ felt in the memory."

Hermione gasped were as Harry seemed frozen in thought, or in shock.

"The phenomenon is mostly seen when a married couple use their memories of their wedding to call a patronus at the same time. But even then, it happens less than once in a thousand times."

Neither teen appeared to be listening to Professor Lupin at this point, as he carried on explaining. They were each too preoccupied with being awed by the emotions and the experience they had just felt. It was one thing to know that your partner loves you, but it was something else entirely to actually _feel _it.

To feel the love they felt for you...it was huge, absolutely overwhelming in such a way that neither of them could fully comprehend just yet.

The two of them were pulled partially back into reality by Professor Lupin, "Harry, Hermione, are you two listening?"

"Sorry Uncle Moony. My head was elsewhere," Professor Lupin's use of Harry's first name had him reflexively switch to calling Lupin by his nickname Uncle Moony.

"I understand. It must be profound to feel someone else's emotions, even if for only a few seconds."

"I'm sorry we got distracted Professor. What were you trying to say to us?" Hermione said

"I was saying _good work_. The two of you have made massive progress since our last lesson," Harry and Hermione smiled at the praise, but Lupin wasn't finished, "Unfortunately, it's only going to get harder from here. While your patroni are not fully corporal yet, they are viable, so now we must shift to being able to cast the spell when it's difficult to be happy. It's relatively easy to cast a patronus when we are in a nice, warm office, after drinking a good cup of tea. But, Dementors need their victims to be unhappy, so they pull your worst memories to the surface so that it's harder for you to defend yourselves against their Kisses. Being able to cast a patronus when you need to is what we will be working on from now on."

"How are we going to do that?" Harry asked nervously.

"I am not sure yet. It's not like we can go for a walk and practice around the Dementors. Not only is that extremely dangerous, but Dementors aren't controlled creatures in the slightest, and won't hesitate to Kiss you soul, even if they are under strict rules not to."

Harry sighed in relief, "Thank goodness. Those things are terrifying."

"I suppose after an attack like you experienced at the Quidditch match, they would be even more unnerving," The Professor sympathised with Harry's opinion, "However, we are going to need to be able to experience that effect that Dementors can have, in some way or another."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Sunday 9th January**

Harry was passing up and down in one of the Castle's many corridors. He had spent most of the day in the library with Hermione, as the two of them looked through book after book, researching British magical creature laws. In order for them to work out exactly how to defend Buckbeak, they first needed to understand the exact charges against him.

They had made some progress, but there were still a number of busy library sections in their future. They didn't mind though; they would do all that was in their power to help Hagrid and save Buckbeak.

What Harry was pondering now was how to deal with the twins. He had gone to Fred and George after he heard they were making fake wands. He wanted some wands that he could use to practice on for his Rune's project, but he didn't want to risk a real wand until he was a lot more sure about his plans.

The last thing he wanted was for a real wand to get smashed into a wall because there was too much power, or for it burst into flames because he had carved a Rune backwards.

The twins were able to make him a few blank wands, but they had wanted something in return. Harry had offered gold, but the puckish twins wanted something far more nefarious. They demanded that, if Harry wanted blank wands, then they wanted him to live up to his father's Marauder legacy, insisting that Harry pull a prank.

Harry was of two minds on this. On one hand, Hermione probably wouldn't approve, especially not if it disrupted lessons. On the other hand, however, was Harry's father.

James Potter, also known as Prongs, was a _Marauder_. The legends of the Marauders were still told in the castle even now.

It was possible, maybe even probable, that if Harry had grown up with his parents, his dad might have _encouraged _Harry to commit pranks while he was at school.

Maybe he should do it.

Just this once.

One time to get the blank wands and to prove to himself that he had what it takes to be like his dad.

That Harry could be a Marauder, if he wanted to be.

But that only led to another question. What prank should he pull? Part of him just wanted to put a whoopee cushion on a chair and be done with it, and walk away with the wands claiming that a deal is a deal. Yet, he was the son of the legendary Prongs; Prongs, the Marauder who, according to Moony, had pranked the whole school by giving them all a French accent.

That was the legacy he _had _to live up to if he was going to do this.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Monday 10th January**

"Harry, what's up with you? Are you ok?" Hermione asked.

Harry and Hermione were sitting down for breakfast, only Harry wasn't enjoying it as much as he normally was. He was fidgeting and kept looking at Hermione.

He was nervous. So nervous, that if it wasn't way too late, he would consider calling the whole thing off.

"It's nothing Hermione. Don't worry about it," Harry wanted to believe that himself as much as he wanted Hermione to believe it.

"Here, drink this," She handed him a goblet of chilled pumpkin juice, "I don't know what has gotten you so worked up, but it can't be _that _bad," Harry stared at the pumpkin juice he had just been given like it was going to jump up and bite him.

While Harry was busy staring at his drink, Hermione poured one for herself.

She drank it down quickly. Hermione really wasn't a big fan of pumpkin juice, she preferred orange or apple like she had growing up. But, she was thirsty and didn't want to slowly sip at hot tea right now.

If Harry had been paying attention, he might have stopped Hermione from drinking the pumpkin juice. Instead, he only noticed when he heard her set her goblet back on the table.

Harry was then hit with a flash of clarity.

_Oh no._

He had let Hermione drink that. How could he be so stupid?

After what happened to her last year, she was going to freak out and dump him when she realised it was him. He looked at his own goblet. Drinking it didn't seem at all that bad next to the idea of losing Hermione, and wasn't anywhere near as scary as it had been only moments ago.

He downed his goblet of juice. All that was left now was to hope that Hermione would forgive him.

"Ok Harry...what's in my pumpkin juice?" Harry was so preoccupied with the fact that Hermione had drank the juice, that he hadn't noticed that she was still watching him.

"Uh...what do you mean?"

"Harry, I can see how you're reacting to me drinking, so I will only ask you once more; _what is wrong with my pumpkin juice?_" Hermione's stern voice got sterner with each word and the look on her face _demanded_ an answer.

Harry was extremely anxious, but he knew he couldn't keep it from Hermione, "Firstly, it's not just _your_ pumpkin juice, more so it's _all _of the pumpkin juice in the hall. It's a potion Dobby helped me put in them," Hermione's eyes went wide at the mention of a potion. More specifically, a potion which she had been spiked with without her knowledge, "I promise it won't hurt anyone. The twins had some stuff I wanted from them for my Runes project.

But...they would only give them to me if I pulled a prank. I got so caught up in planning it that I forgot that you might have a problem with being slipped a potion, even if it is relatively harmless..." Harry's confession trailed off into silence as he watched Hermione for her reaction.

Hermione wasn't reacting at all.

Instead, she was almost like a statue, as close to perfectly still as a living human could get. Harry was sure she was about to dump him, and he definitely deserved it.

"You said it was all of the drinks. Why?"

Harry was surprised that she asked that, but sat there fidgeting with nerves as he explained, "There were two reasons; firstly, I thought if I singled people out to be pranked it would be bullying, turning a few people into a spectacle. But, if I got everyone, then no one is targeted, and everyone knows that they weren't singled out." Hermione only nodded towards his reasoning.

"The second reason is, I...I wanted to do a prank that my father would be _proud _of. I remembered that story that uncle Moony told us, about how my dad made the whole school talk with a French accent. I wanted to prove that I was good enough.

Good enough to do what my father did. Good enough to be his son.

I'm sorry 'Mione. I understand if you don't want to talk to me ever again."

"Harry James Potter, you understand this right now, because I am only going to say this once. I am upset that, after what happened to me last year, you would slip me a potion. It doesn't matter that you didn't target me; you are my boyfriend and should have considered me in your plans. I _am _angry at you.

You have a lot of apologizing to do. _But_, I am not going to break up with you, and I'm not going to stop being your friend. And yes, I still love you, even if I want to hex you to the moon and back right now.

Now tell me, what will this potion do?"

During Hermione's little speech, Harry felt the tension build with every word. She was right; he should have remembered about last year. As her boyfriend, he should have considered Hermione first. He was convinced that she was building up to breaking up with him right there and then, until she said she wasn't. Yes, she was angry at him, and yes, he needed to come up with an amazing apology, but he could deal with that.

"About what it does...I think you should just wait and see," Hermione shot him a look that could freeze a cauldron full of bubbling hot potion, "I-I just meant that it would take longer to explain than waiting to see for yourself. It should start any moment now," Hermione nodded once again, accepting his explanation.

Hermione noticed the first one about thirty seconds later; it was at Hufflepuff first, then at Gryffindor a few seconds later, followed almost instantly by Slytherin. Soon, each table was filled with students wondering what was happening as one by one, all their friend's hair changed colour to match their house banners.

Every single Gryffindor male was suddenly looking for any reflective surface so that they could see the scarlet hair they suddenly had. The girls were doing something similar, all of them trying to quickly examine their newly golden hair.

The same scene was playing out on each of the house tables, the only difference was the colour of their hair.

The Ravenclaw boys had bright blue hair, while their counterparts of the fairer sex had a coppery bronze. Slytherin had a pick of green and silver, with the gents sporting green to the ladies' silver. At Hufflepuff, all the males had suddenly developed a lot of yellow hair, with black the colour for their female housemates.

Harry looked at Hermione to see how she looked.

He hoped she looked Ok. Hermione wasn't a vain girl, but Harry was sure that if she looked good, he would have a much easier time apologizing. Harry was surprised and not disappointed.

Surprised, because the fur on Hermione's tail and ears had also changed to gold to match her hair. And while he prefered Hermione's normal hair, she hadn't lost any ground in the looks department. Hermione was currently borrowing a make-up mirror from Lavender to look at her change in appearance.

"How long?" Hermione asked in a quiet voice, so that no one else would hear.

"Eleven to thirteen hours, depending on how much someone drank and how big they are," There were some equations in potions for working everything out really accurately, but you had to do the calculations for each person you wanted to know the answer for, and Harry hadn't bothered to do all that. Instead, he had just used the provided info from the potion he had modified to do the prank, one of the vials of potions he had gotten from the twins at Christmas.

Hermione looked like she was about to say something, but she was interrupted by a series of loud bangs in quick succession. Harry, Hermione and every other student in the hall turned to look at what had caused the noise, only to find the Headmaster standing with his wand raised.

He had obviously made the explosions to get the attention of all the students, "Well, it seems that either we are witnessing an unprecedented showing of house pride, or this is a school wide prank, the scale of which hasn't been seen at Hogwarts for a number of years," The headmaster was actually smiling, "As the extent of this seems to be limited to hair colour, lessons will continue as normal. Now, off you go, it's time for your first lessons."

All the students got up and started making their way to their respective classrooms. Harry had just gotten up and offered Hermione his hand to help her stand, but she instead put her bag in Harry's hand and stood up on her own. She began walking to Transfiguration, leaving Harry to follow her while carrying her books.

"Right, she's _definitely _mad at me," Harry mumbled under his breath. He silently followed Hermione to transfiguration while he tried to figure out a way to apologize

**Author's notes**

Ok so the fic has gone off the plan for a bit. When I planned out this section I had no plan for there to be a fight between Harry and Hermione. But as I was writing the Sean I wondered how Hermione would react to being dosed like that and there was no way that I could see that it wouldn't become a fight. So yay unplanned side trip.

John Deed* there was a tv show that followed the cases of a fictional judge in the uk the name of the show was Judge John Deed

999* in the UK emergency services are reached by dialing 999 not 911 like in America

Mr Bobby* was created as part of prank for a segment on a TV show called Nowels house party. The character was designed to be as annoying as possible and would be used to irotate celebrity guests. The character was unexpectedly popular with kids though and released a song for the 1993 Christmas market that somehow made it to no. 1 in the chart's


	31. Chapter 31 - bumpy road

**Chapter 31 - Bumpy roads**

It had been almost a week since the prank, and things between Harry and Hermione were _still _not back to normal. They were better, yes, but still not great. While she was at least back to talking with Harry now, unfortunately for both of them, she still refrained from kissing him, or even giving him a hug.

Harry was at a complete loss on what to do. He had told her every day that he was sorry, he had sworn to her he would do better, he was doing everything he could for her, from carrying her book bag to class to running every conceivable errand for her he could think of; he had even owl-ordered a large bouquet of flowers from a florist in Hogsmeade and had Dobby deliver them to her dorm.

But it hadn't worked.

And now he was completely out of ideas.

The only good thing to have come out of it was that Fred and George been mightily impressed with his prank. While changing the colour of people's hair wasn't that big a deal, that Harry's prank had managed to hit the entire school at the same time was something even _they _hadn't been able to do.

At least, not yet, though they seemed to be taking Harry's performance as a challenge.

The twins did come through on their bargain admirably, and had given him ten fake wands; more than enough for him to start testing his first version of the summoning array.

His first test had been an absolute disaster.

He had written the two arrays he needed on separate bits of parchment, attaching the first one to a wand blank and sticking the other to his hand. One was a summoning array, and the other a targeting array.

He'd fed the Rune's on his hand a little of his magic, but instead of the wand flying to Harry's hand from the table ten feet away, the parchment stuck on his hand had promptly burst into flames, setting Harry into a panic from being on fire.

Luckily, Hermione had insisted on being there; even if she was barely talking to him at that point, she had still wanted to watch, and just sat there silently observing him. She had kept her cool, and with a quick charm, had water coming from her wand, quenching the flames and cooling Harry's hand. Thanks to her quick response, Harry had barely suffered any burns at all.

That he had also ended up completely soaking wet, with Hermione not only putting out the flames, but giving him a shower in the process, wasn't as great. But, it was the first smile he'd seen on Hermione's face since the potions incident, so he didn't mind at all.

Harry guessed that she even liked that look on him, from the weird glances she gave him as he attempted to dry off his ever-troubling hair.

He had examined the Runes afterwards to try and find out what had gone wrong, and found that he had created a power flow imbalance; there was too much magic building up in one part of the array and not being used, eventually bursting out as he'd channeled more and more of his magic into the Rune.

And so it was back to the drawing board for the Runes.

Before he could focus on that particular problem, he first and foremost had to come up with a way to apologise to Hermione.

Or at least, an apology she would _accept_.

He already said he was sorry a number of times. In fact, he made a point of telling her at least twice a day; when they first met up in the morning, and when they parted ways for the night. The problem was, he just didn't know how to go about it, and the person who he would normally go to for advice like that happened to be the one who he was trying to apologise to.

He really had to figure out things soon; it was Valentine's Day in less than a month, and after he had forgotten it last year, he really needed to do something special this year, which would be incredibly hard if Hermione was still mad at him at that point.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry was wandering the halls of the castle, pondering what he could do in regards to Hermione, something he was almost always thinking about now. Rounding a corner, he came across Tracy Davis, who was tugging on the larger paintings and looking behind the wall tapestries as she passed up the corridor his way. This may have looked weird to some, but it wasn't uncommon for students to see if they could find secret passageways and hidden rooms.

The castle was full of them and finding them could be a lot of fun to do, _unless _those rooms where dangerous.

Last year, Harry wouldn't have thought twice; he would have turned around and continued his walk somewhere else.

It would be easier than listening to the insults the Slytherin was bound to throw at him. This year, however, was different. While he wouldn't exactly call Tracy a _friend, _she was definitely more than a mere acquaintance.

So, he decided to go and say hello, surprising himself as much as Tracy, once she realised who had come to talk to her, "Hey Tracy, how are things?"

"Oh, hey Harry! Yeah, things aren't bad. How about you? You and Hermione still fighting?" She asked.

Tracy and Daphne had noticed the shift in how Hermione and Harry were acting during the Runes classes they shared that week. Usually, the two were extremely close to one another, usually holding hands or touching shoulders as they worked, but now, they weren't.

"Sort of...she's talking to me again, instead of _at _me, but things are still not right."

"What did you do anyway?" They were now walking down the corridor while Tracy continued to check the paintings and wall hangings.

Harry considered if he shouldn't tell his Slytherin classmate, but she had trusted Harry and Hermione with a pretty big secret, so it was up to him to show some trust now, like she had, "I slipped her a potion without thinking. After Christmas last year, she is understandably sensitive about potions."

Harry turned to where he thought Tracy had been standing, only to find she wasn't there. He then felt a vicious shove and was suddenly pinned against the wall, with Tracy standing in front of him, her wand aimed at his head.

His classmate's face was almost unrecognisable with anger and disgust as she snarled at him, "How could you!? The girl is _already _in love with you! What, got tired of waiting? Give me a good reason not to curse you Potter, before I lose my patience."

Harry was confused, as well as quite shocked at the pure venom Tracy suddenly had towards him, "What? Why would you curse me?"

"Why!? WHY!? You slip your girlfriend a love potion and ask _why_ I would curse you!"

In an instant he understood what Tracy thought he had done.

He would _never _do what she had implied; even the idea made him feel sick, "Woah, woah, woah. You've got the wrong idea. I didn't slip her a love potion. Or any potion like _that_.

I did the hair prank last week. That's the only potion I gave her...and everyone else," the last bit he mumbled incredibly quietly, "All it did was affect her hair colour. That's it."

Tracy lowered her wand, only a bit, "That's it? Just the hair prank? You swear it?"

Harry held up his hands in submission, "I swear."

Tracy lowered her wand completely now, "_God_ Potter! Be more clear from the beginning in the future; when a girl hears about being slipped a potion, it's not normally so...innocent."

Harry was horrified by even the _idea _that he, or anyone for that matter, could do something like that, "I would _never_."

"Lots of guys say that, but it still happens way too much," Tracy deadpanned.

"But Hermione knows I wouldn't do that, right?" Harry pulled the conversation back to his problem. He was extremely worried now that Hermione would have thought that that was what he'd given her, before he'd explained himself.

"I don't know, Hermione and I aren't very close. It could be something that she is worried about, or I could be wrong. Like I said, we aren't close enough for me to really understand her like that," Tracy went back to checking behind the portraits and tapestries.

"I just wish I knew how to apologise to her."

"This may sound crazy Harry, but have you tried just _telling _her?"

Harry rolled his eyes, "_Of course_ I tried that. I tell her every single day. I promised not to do it again, and that I would do better from now on. I even had flowers delivered to her dorm. I just want to know how to make us good again."

"Well, what did Hermione say about apologizing?"

"Only that I had a lot of it to do, but that she wasn't going to break up with me," Harry explained.

"Then have you considered that you're already doing everything right? Maybe, you just need to go at it for longer than a week. Also, can't you do better than flowers?" The derision was plain in her voice when she mentioned the flowers.

Harry felt better at the idea that he was doing the right thing, but that disappeared as he realised that there was probably no quick fix to the massive screw-up he did. However, he was slightly annoyed that Tracy said flowers weren't enough, "What? What's wrong with flowers? Isn't that what you're supposed to do?"

Tracy snorted, "Harry, flowers are nice, but it's what you get for your partner when you have no other ideas. You could do _so _much better. Get her something she would like. For example, if I wanted to cheer up Daph, I would get her a charm for the charm bracelet I'd gotten her. You just need to think about what Hermione _likes_."

"I guess you have a point; I've never seen Hermione pay much attention to plants and flowers outside of Herbology. I should probably think of something better," Harry really tried to think of a gift that would be better for Hermione. The problem was, if he spent too much on it, Hermione would get even more mad at him for that than she already was. She wanted him to be careful with his gold, he supposed she had a point. After paying his Hogwarts tuition for anther four years there wouldn't be a lot left.

Harry attention was caught when he saw Tracy drop the latest tapestry she'd checked behind, swearing in frustration.

"So, why are you looking for a secret passageway or room? You just exploring, or are you looking for something specific?"

Harry hoped that, if she was looking for something specific, then he would be able to check the Marauders' Map for her to see if he could find it, as a thank you for her advice.

Tracy looked around nervously to check that they were alone, "I'm looking for somewhere private, to take Daphne on Valentine's. If we go to Hogsmeade together, on Valentine's, then people will wonder about us being together. We can't let that happen, but we still want to do something together, you know?"

Harry nodded, "I get it. Even if it's for a different reason. Hermione and I prefer privacy as well," Harry then had a thought, a brilliant one, "Actually...come with me. I have an idea."

Harry lead a confused Tracy though the school, up to the Seventh floor, and the Room of Requirement, "Mione and I wanted a spot where we could be alone, and I found an amazing place. I'm planning to use it Valentine's as well, but I don't see why we can't both use it."

Tracy was half jogging to keep up with an excited Harry, "Um, Harry...I think Daph and I might want a bit more privacy."

Harry turned and grinned back at her, "Don't worry; I don't think it will be a problem. Trust me."

They were at the tapestry of the dancing trolls that marked the location of the Room of Requirement. Harry started pacing back and forth, thinking of his and Hermione's date room, but he changed it a bit to accommodate a second couple.

Tracy was watching Harry while she leant against the wall. If she hadn't seen just how strange things could get at Hogwarts, she would have worried that Harry was losing his mind. Instead, she just mused on just how much crazy a person can accept, given enough exposure in a place like Hogwarts. Then, there was suddenly something that was poking her in the back.

She turned around to see what it was. It was the door handle to a door that had _definitely _not been there when she had started leaning against the wall.

Harry opened the door and motioned for her to go in. Once she stepped in, Harry followed her, closing the door behind them, "Welcome to the Room of Requirement."

They both looked around at the room. Instead of the normal date room Harry and Hermione used, there was now only a nice little dining area that was brilliant for a group of four. There were also three doors leading off the room; one behind them, that they had just come through, one on the left wall, with another mirroring that on the right.

The wall opposite was dominated by large windows, showing the regular beautiful sunset the room used, even when, like now, the sun had already set for the day.

Tracy looked into one of the side doors and found a small room with comfortable sofa facing a fire, "Cozy. I see what you mean about privacy, with the two side rooms."

Harry wasn't finished yet, "Oh, this? This is just an idea. The room changes into _whatever we want. _Bigger, smaller, more rooms, less rooms, colours, furniture, equipment. It's all changeable."

Tracy was staring at him, stunned. The complexity of the magic needed for something like that was staggering. That was before you looked into how much power would be needed. Yet, the ideas were racing through her mind at just how good a Valentine's she could make it for Daphne.

"Do you know if there are any limitations?"

"Yeah; it can't make food, and the stuff made by the room stops existing outside of the room. Oh, and the room resets as soon as there is no-one inside."

"No food is a pain, but we could bring a picnic or something."

"I have a friend who can deliver food here, we just need to agree what we want. It's unfair to ask him to make two different sets of meals. So, why don't we sit down and plan out exactly what we want to do?"

Harry and Tracy sat at the relatively small dining table, and Harry pulled a spare bit of parchment and a Muggle pen from his pocket. Carrying a Muggle pen was a habit he had picked up from Hermione. Muggle pens were just more convenient than trying to carry a quill and ink bottle in his pocket. The two sat there for over an hour, working on what they planned to make Valentine's as special as they could for the ladies in their lives.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione had a lot on her mind.

The past week had been eventful for her. First off, Harry had betrayed her trust in him by slipping her a potion.

_Yes_, it was harmless, Hermione even thought she looked good with gold hair. Her bushy hair, along with her cat ears, had given her a bit of a lion look. It was just a pity that it was more lion than lioness.

However, the problem was that Harry should have known better.

He knew what messing with potion's had done to her. She knew that Harry hadn't meant to hurt her. He'd gotten so caught up in trying to prove he was his father's son he had gotten tunnel vision.

She knew he was sorry; he had even ordered her flowers, which she thought was sweet, even if it was a bit stereotypical.

She _wanted _to forgive him, but everything in her life was just getting in the way this week.

The day after Harry had dosed her, her cat side had come calling, and like Madam Pomfrey said she would, she had gone into heat.

That was panic-inducing enough; the suppression potions she took every month were supposed to stop her from feeling that...needy.

It had been incredibly difficult to focus on her classes that day. Even though she was mad at Harry, she kept getting distracted by him. She had not taken as many notes as she normally did in Charms, and in History of Magic, she hadn't taken _any at all_, finding Professor Binn's droning monotone lecture too boring to hold even _her _attention that day.

She hadn't said a word to Harry that day, in part because she was mad at him, but also because she wasn't sure she could keep being mad at him while image after image of Harry without a shirt, and sometimes without even more, were racing through her mind.

She wasn't exactly positive that she could avoid dragging him to the Room of Requirement to help release her tension. She could _not _let that happen; despite not being ready, and being mad at Harry, there was no way she was going to let her first time be because she was in heat. Her first time with Harry was going to be special.

As soon as classes were over, she had retreated to her dorm to try and relax a bit. She had known disappearing like that would hurt Harry and make him think she was more upset than she was, but at the time, it was all she could think of.

Once she was alone, she had tried to review the chapter for History of Magic they'd done in class, only, she _still _couldn't concentrate. She eventually decided that, if she was going to relax at all, she would need to take care of her tension herself.

That had been the start of the next problem. She was no stranger to herself; she had gotten worked up more than once by Harry. During her alone times previously, her mental images of Harry had greatly helped things along. Only this time, she was upset with him, so her mind had wandered, first picking out generic males conjured from dreams, then a few of the better looking guys from around the school.

Then, she thought of something else, something that had shocked her.

Images of some of the prettier girls had floated through her head.

The idea that she could be into girls had surprised, and scared, Hermione. It had taken her a few days to even wrap her head around the concept.

It hadn't helped that she went into heat when she ovulated, meaning that she also had to deal with the end of her cycle at the same time as being angry at Harry _and _trying to work out what this meant for her.

At one point, she had almost convinced herself that if she liked girls, then she would need to give up Harry, but quickly realised that she definitely liked Harry. He had managed to get her worked up more than once, and there were also male crushes she'd had before getting together with Harry, like Ron and Lockhart.

_Ron and Lockhart_, what had she been _thinking_?

She'd had a thing for Ronald at first, that was why his words that first Halloween had hurt her enough to send her into tears in the bathroom; his opinion had mattered to her because she liked him.

Of course, even after they became friends, the more Ron spoke, the less attracted to him she was.

As for Lockhart, well...her crush on him was like a lot of girls' crushes on Harry; It had nothing to do with the real person, and was focused on the fiction that was based on what people believed about them.

The big question was; should she tell Harry? On one hand, she didn't like keeping things from him.

On the other; did it even matter? She was with Harry, she loved him, and she definitely found Harry sexually attractive. Telling him could make him think that he wasn't, or ever could be, enough for her.

There was no rush, she concluded. Maybe she would wait till the summer and talk with her mum first.

Her mum was always good with stuff like this.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

She had just gotten back from her second detention with her Head of year.

Professor McGonagall had her doing the same job as last time, giving Hermione the homework assignments of the first and second years.

The job had gone a lot quicker this week for two reasons, first was that homework over the Christmas holidays was longer than regular homework.

The students had two weeks to do the homework in, so the length required reflected that.

This time, Hermione also knew what she was doing a lot better than last time. As Hermione was finished with the lower years, she had organised the rest of the assignments by house and year, and as Professor McGonagall had no more work to assign to her, in a rare showing of lax, she had let Hermione go early.

Hermione half-ran back up to the common room. It had only just gone eight; if she got to the common room quickly enough, she could have a couple of hours curled up with Harry.

Maybe she would make him read one of her textbooks to her while she curled up next to him. It was a poor substitute for a real date night, but she and Harry had agreed to put off any more date nights until she was done with her detentions. Breaking curfew for their anniversary was one thing, but breaking curfew because it was their regular date night would just be going too far.

_And_, making Harry read to her the latest chapter from history of magic would be a good way for her to unwind and start getting back to normal with Harry, without just letting him off the hook.

Once Hermione got to the common room, she looked around for Harry, but she couldn't find him, so she asked Dean if Harry was up in the boys' dorm.

"Sorry Hermione, but he's not there. I was up there about five minutes ago dropping off my potions essay in my trunk. Last I saw him was about forty to forty-five minutes ago; I saw him going up to the Seventh floor with some girl."

Hermione was disappointed; Harry must have thought she would be in detention longer after last week, "Who was he with?"

"Not sure, only saw her from behind. All I can say is she's a dark blonde, and not someone I recognized, so probably not a Gryffindor."

Hermione was more than a little put out; Harry had been trying to make up with her all week, and now that she was in a place to start fixing things, he'd run off to do something else.

She began wondering what Harry was doing up on the Seventh floor. There were only really two destinations; The Owlery, maybe Harry or the girl were sending a letter? Maybe the girl was sending a letter and wanted to borrow Hedwig? No, that couldn't be it; the girl could use a school owl, and she and Harry were sending their weekly letters to her parents tomorrow. Harry wouldn't risk Hedwig being unable for that unless it was incredibly important.

The only other place worthy of note was the Room of Requirement. Her heart clenched at the idea that Harry was taking another girl to _their _date spot. In her head, she knew that whatever was going on was fine.

She and Harry were solid.

But, the part of her that never had a lot of friends, the part that sees a mutant when she sees her ears and tail in the mirror, was whispering in the back of her mind, telling her she hadn't been _much _of a girlfriend this week and Harry could be _really _popular if he wanted to be.

The rest of her was reminding her of things that told her that everything was fine. The Room of Requirement can be a lot of things, it didn't necessarily _have _to be a date room, it could just as easily be a study, a dueling area or even a bedroom.

No, not a bedroom; Harry wouldn't do that.

Hermione's thoughts were driving her nuts, she knew that Harry was probably just killing time because he thought she was in detention. But, after the last week, she didn't have the highest of self esteem and because of that, was having stupid thoughts.

She just needed to talk to Harry.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione had to wait over half an hour before Harry climbed through the portrait hole into the common room. Hermione almost went over to pull him into a much needed hug, but held herself back; she was still a little mad at him after all. Instead, she calmly walked over to speak to him, "Hey Harry," she was still feeling a little anxious, and that kept her voice from being as light and friendly as she wanted.

"Hey 'Mione; you got out of detention early. I was going to meet you, but when I checked the map you were already here."

"I finished the work professor McGongall set me, so she let me go early.

Where were you? I asked Dean if you were up in the dorms, but he said he saw you going up to the Seventh floor with a girl," Hermione tried to keep any tones of worry and accusation from her voice, but she didn't think she did very well.

However, either Harry didn't notice, or was ignoring it.

"Yeah. I was uh...brainstorming with Tracy," Hermione frowned a little at the pause in Harry's sentence, but relaxed when he said he was with Tracy. Tracy may not be a girl she trusted too much, at least not yet. While she definitely had the feeling that could change in time, she knew could trust Tracy and Harry to be alone together, no matter how bad an argument got between her and Harry got. Tracy just wasn't into guys at all.

"Brainstorming? For what?" Hermione was curious now.

Harry hesitated once again, "All I will say is _Valentine's_. The rest is a surprise. Oh, and," he looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, "Daphne and Tracy will be using the room with us that day," A frown crossed Hermione's face, "Not _together _with us, we just tested the room, and it can make us separate rooms, so we will have our side and Daphne and Tracy the other. Like two separate private rooms at the same restaurant," Harry clarified.

Hermione liked the sound of that. She was looking forward to a full day with just the two of them, especially with everything that was getting in the way of that at the moment, "That sounds lovely Harry," Hermione thought for a second and came to a decision, "Let's go sit down Harry."

She gave Harry's arm a little tug, pulling him not towards the more uncomfortable tables that were mostly for homework, but to one of the comfy sofas that she and Harry mostly used for cuddling up in the evening, and which she had avoided with Harry for the last week.

Harry hadn't needed telling twice and followed her. Hermione let him sit first so that she could curl up against him, "I'm still a little upset at what happened, but I've missed this," Hermione said as she cuddled into Harry's chest.

Harry put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head, "I missed this too. I'm sorry; I was so stupid."

"Yes, you were, so now you are going to help me."

"Ok...how?"

Hermione reached into her book bag and pulled out her History of magic textbook, "You can read chapter twenty-seven to me while I use you as a pillow," She settled her head in Harry's lap and relaxed while he read the chapter to her.

Harry was far easier to listen to than Binns.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

The next four weeks nearly passed without incident. Harry made a few more attempts with his summoning project. The wands were now coming on command, but they were currently trying to impale the person who summoned them. While that was obviously a problem, Harry had been far more focused on improving Hermione's hair band.

He was quite proud of the progress he made on it. After he had decided to focus on his project for Hermione for a bit, he'd had a few brain waves. He added a bundle of small runes on the inside of each end of the hairband. Now, If someone pressed their thumbs into each bundle of Runes, and then, at the same time, touched the outside of hairband to say...a bit of clothing, the fabric on the outside of the hairband would change its colour and pattern to match.

This meant Hermione could now match her hairband to whatever outfit she was wearing when she went out in the Muggle world. He still had more improvements planned, but so far it was a good start.

Hermione had been ecstatic about the improvement, and it had earned Harry his first bone-crushing Hermione hug since the potions incident.

Hermione had finished her detentions with Professor McGonagall, who was actually a little disappointed to lose her marking assistant. Hermione, however, was thrilled to have her night with Harry back.

Things were back to normal between them by that point.

Ron had apparently earned himself two more detentions for constantly complaining to their Head of year that he was the victim, and that he shouldn't have detention at all, completely glossing over the point that there would have been no fight with Hermione if he hadn't coldly accused her and tried to attack her familiar.

It was starting to look as though their friendship with Ron might be well and truly over.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

On the 25th, dinner in the Great Hall was surprisingly unusual, which was saying something. Along with the regular variation of Hogwarts food, this evening there was a thick beef stew and mashed potatoes, along with a mixed root vegetable mash.

There were also a number of plates holding oddly shaped, short but fat, dark sausages that looked like they were boiled instead of fried.

"What are those things?" Neville, who was sitting opposite Harry and Hermione, asked aloud.

Harry had no clue, having never seen them before, but Hermione apparently had, "It's haggis*. Oh right...it's Burns night."

Harry was more curious about Burns night than he was about haggis. From what he had heard of it, it didn't sound particularly appetizing, "What's Burns night?"

"It's a celebration of a Scottish poet Robert Burns. It's sort of a Scottish pride day. Professor McGonagall must have arranged it," Hermione slipped into her lecture mode, something which tended to happen whenever she was explaining something.

"Is haggis any good?" Neville asked

"Don't know; I've never tried it. I just saw a photo in a book about British traditions."

The three of them and a few more of the Gryffindors tried the Scottish _delicacy_ with mixed results. Harry and Hermione didn't care much for it, but Neville and a couple of others seemed to like it.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

On the 27th, Professor Lupin disappeared from the school once again, because he was ill. The professor got ill quite often. Harry wondered if his honorary uncle had some kind of health condition that made him more susceptible to getting sick.

Professor Snape covered his class this time, and was a bigger git than normal, assigning them homework on werewolves; a topic they hadn't covered yet.

When Professor Lupin returned, he had cancelled the homework, much to Hermione's disappointment and Harry's frustration. Hermione had pushed Harry to do the homework as soon as it was assigned, so they could be sure that they had time on the weekend to do more research for Buckbeak's case.

The werewolf assignment was bugging Harry for some reason, but he couldn't figure out why. It probably had something to do with the smirk on Snape's face as he gave out the work though, so Harry did his best to put it out of his mind.

Instead, he occupied his mind by spending time with Tracy as they planned their Valentine's Day dates. Tracy, it turned out, was an untapped goldmine of ideas, some of which Harry thought Hermione would absolutely love.

Hermione, who seemed to have lost her boyfriend to his scheming, had taken to the library to pass her time. She was soon joined by Daphne, who found herself similarly lacking the company of her own schemer. Daphne asked Hermione if she knew anything about where Tracy planned for the two of them to go, considering she and Tracy were keeping their relationship a secret.

Hermione only said that privacy wasn't going to be a problem, but she didn't want to spoil any surprises Tracy might have planned.

The two witches quickly started coming up with this own Valentine's ideas, hoping that they wouldn't get in the way of Harry and Tracy's schemes.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

In the second week of February, Hermione found herself going into heat again. More prepared for it this time, she was able to really take stock of what she was feeling. She noted that while she definitely wanted to drag Harry off somewhere private, and while it wasn't as intense as the first time she went into heat, before she started on the potion, they did seem to be getting more and more intense, even when she took the potion.

When she told Harry that she was going to see Madam Pomfrey, it took a lot of persuading to get him not to come with her;

"You're going to the hospital wing!? What's wrong!? Let's go; do you need to lean on me?" Harry was standing and getting ready to leave right there and then.

"Harry! _I'm _going to the hospital wing. _You _are going to class," she dictated to him. Unfortunately, he was being stubborn and amazing at the same time.

"'Mione, I don't care about class; if you're sick you will be my priority," Harry was going to make sure she was taken care of, even if he needed to carry her to the hospital wing himself, with or without magic.

"Harry, calm down, I'm fine," He looked at her disbelievingly.

Hermione sighed, she hadn't wanted to tell Harry too much, so she leaned in and whispered, "Honestly Harry; it's just girly stuff, nothing to worry about. I'm more worried about missing class. Can you please go to class and take notes for me? Please?"

"Are you sure you are Ok? I don't mind blowing off Defence and I'm sure Uncle Moony would forgive me."

Normally she would let Harry come and fuss over her, but his presence would be both distracting and embarrassing, "Go to class Harry," She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "I love that you want to watch out for me, but some things I need to do alone, now go to class, for me."

Harry agreed finally, and left her to go and see the school nurse alone.

Her conversion with Madam Pomfrey was embarrassing to say the least. But, at least she was spared the indignancy that would come from speaking to a Muggle doctor about such things. She was so glad those types of exams were done by diagnostic charms in the magical world.

"Well Miss Granger, this is a good news bad news situation. The good news is that physically, you are almost completely healthy. You still have a few lingering problems from being petrified, but that is to be expected, and I think you will be fine by the end of the school year," Hermione was happy to hear about that. She regularly got stiff joints while she slept. It was more of an annoyance now, but she was glad it was going away.

"The bad news is that you are building up a tolerance to your suppression potion. I expect by this time next year, the potion will not help you," Madam Pomfrey paused to let that information sink in, "I can increase the strength of your next potion, if you like, but be careful, the sooner I up the strength, the faster you'll build up your tolerance. If you can hold off for a month or two more, it would help."

"What about the contraceptive part of the potion? Am I building a tolerance to that as well?"

"The contraceptive draught is one you won't have a problem taking for however long you want. It's a separate potion that I added to the suppression potion to cover you if the suppression potion failed. So, even after you are no longer on the suppression potion, you can continue with the contraceptive one, though I doubt someone as studious as you would want to give up your schooling to be a mum."

"Definitely not. One day I want to be a mum, but not for a few years at least. I was thinking of getting a mastery first."

Madam Pomfrey nodded, "A sensible plan. Too many witches get pregnant not long after leaving school and don't get their mastery."

"What about if I stopped the suppression potions early, would that pause the building of tolerance, or better yet, reverse it?" Hermione asked.

"If you stopped taking it, it's possible over time it would get more effective, but you wouldn't be able to use it a lot. Why are you asking?"

"I don't want to be distracted during my exams, and from what I hear about N.E.W.T's, it wouldn't be great if I was distracted," Hermione explained.

Madam Pomfrey gave Hermione's idea some thought before she answered, "If you stopped taking the potion after your end of year exams, and only took one dose for your fourth year, and one for your O.W.L exams, there is a good chance your tolerance to the potion would be low enough to allow you to take it again through a lot of your N.E.W.T years. But, there is a good chance that you may not need it by then. You may have gotten so used to it that you don't feel the need to suppress it.

If that's what you want to try, then that's what we will try, but think about it for now; you have a few months to mull it over. Also, you might want to consider speaking with Mr Potter. When you stop the suppression potion, there's a chance you will lose yourself a bit when you ovulate. It would be better if he understood what decisions you have made about what you want before then."

Hermione blushed as she realised that the medi witch was basically telling her to plan with Harry if they should have sex when she went into heat. But that was definitely better than leaving it up to Harry to guess at what she was ok with.

**Author's notes:**

_Haggis* _is a lamb 'sausage' that is made from lamb offal moved and mixed with oats and spices and stuffed in the cleans out empty stomach. I tried it once a long time ago and didn't like it much.


	32. Chapter 32 - half-term part 1

Hello everyone. What's this? A regular Wednesday secuald update? How is this possible?

Sorry everyone I know my updating has been a little off secdual recently. But I'm still here. And I'm stil! Working on updates. (Currently working on ch35) and the amazing Matty is back so not only is this fully beta'd so is chapter 31 now. There were a few tweaks to chapter 31 so you may want to re read that before reading this chapter, nothing to big changed but the Sean with Tracy is a little different.

So enough of my ramblings let's get to what you all came here for. And please don't forget to leave a review

**Chapter 32 - Half term (Part 1)**

**Monday 14th February**

Hermione woke up when a soft tune started playing next to her head. She looked over to where the tune was coming from and found a pink envelope with a single rose laying on top of it. The tune was coming from the envelope. She smiled and, after a quick struggle with Crookshanks, who had fallen asleep on her tail, she opened the envelope.

The envelope went quiet when Hermione broke the wax seal. The seal, instead of a coat of arms or the mark of a business or organisation, was pressed with a simple heart. Inside the envelope was a simple muggle Valentine's card. The picture on the front was of two cats curled up together in a heart shape; it was ridiculously adorable. Inside the card was a short little poem;

_On this day_

_I'll speak what is true_

_I just wanted to say_

_I love you_

Hermione smiled; the poem was simple, but poetry obviously wasn't Harry's strength, and she loved that he'd at least attempted it. Beneath the poem was a message;

'_meet me at our spot at 9:00'_

"_Our spot"_ could only be the Room of Requirement. She grabbed the pocket watch her parents had gotten her for Christmas and checked the time; 8:15. That gave her forty-five minutes to get ready and arrange her own surprises. She grabbed her wand and a box from her bedside table.

She opened the box and waved her wand, the chocolate snitch in the box springing into the air and flying off in search of Harry. That done, Hermione started getting ready for her date.

She checked her outfit for the day was still where she had put it last night. It was then she pulled out the small bag that passed for her make-up kit and hesitated. Hermione didn't wear makeup as a rule, but she did for special occasions.

The last time had been New Years. She probably would have for her anniversary if she had known Harry would take her out right after detention.

The problem was, she wasn't very confident with doing her own makeup; her mum had always helped her in the past. Hermione looked over at Lavender and Pavarti's bed, where the two girls were starting to wake up.

They wore makeup all the time, and would probably be happy to help.

But did Hermione want to risk all the giggling? She sighed and went to ask Lavender, who was the more awake of the two.

The things she put up with for Harry.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

While Hermione was getting ready for the date, Harry was already up and busy getting everything ready for it. First, he had to get the Room of Requirement ready for both Hermione and himself, as well as for Daphne and Tracy.

Tracy had wanted to help setup, but she couldn't send Daphne a note to meet them without risking someone realising it was Valentine's related. This meant Harry had to picture not just what he wanted for him and Hermione, but also what Tracy wanted.

Harry didn't want to know what Tracy wanted with an additional room that had only a padded table, warm oils and towels. At least, that was what he kept telling himself. Maybe if he told himself that enough he would believe it.

Harry called the room into existence and took a walk-through to check that everything was there. It was, so he did a second run-down, setting up the finishing touches, like putting the record Tracy had handed to him into the gramophone, putting the bouquet of roses in his and Hermione's main room. He could have had the room conjure some flowers, but he wanted Hermione to be able to keep them, so he had owl-ordered a dozen to be delivered to him discreetly.

He had sent Hedwig with a card and one of the roses to be left on Hermione's pillow.; the card Hermione's mother had helped him get. It had been a little weird asking his girlfriend's mum to help buy a Valentine's card, but Hermione's parents were the only people in the Muggle world that he could ask.

The rooms were ready.

There was the dining room that all four of them were going to use, that opened onto a balcony, that definitely wasn't part of Hogwarts, no matter what the view was. Then, on either side of the room was a door that led to a nice relaxing sofa in front of a roaring fire, like Harry and Hermione normally used. But, there were more doors in those rooms.

Tracy had chosen a massage room, and a bathroom with a giant tub that could easily fit four people, even six, if you weren't worried about personal space.

Harry gave his room choices a quick once over and, finding that everything he could think of was in its place, he called Dobby to sort out breakfast and waited for the girls to arrive.

Suddenly, a snitch flew in the window and started to buzz around Harry's head. Harry caught the little ball on reflex, and only then, by the feel of it, did he realise it wasn't a real snitch; it just felt wrong.

Once he looked at it properly, he found that the ball was actually a chocolate ball wrapped in gold foil. The wings were made of paper, with a handwritten sentence on each;

Happy valentine's Harry \0/ Love from Hermione.

Harry grinned as he unwrapped the chocolate ball and bit into it. The ball was filled with praline* and tasted decadent and delicious.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione left the Gryffindor common room and started off to meet Harry. She stopped at the grand staircase as she saw two figures making their way up. As they were going the same way, Hermione decided to wait and walk up with Daphne and Tracy. The two girls soon got to Hermione's floor and stopped when they saw Hermione.

Seeing the two Slytherin's slightly out of breath, Hermione greeted them first, "Good morning. How's things?"

Still slightly out of breath after climbing six flights of stairs to get this far, Daphne answered, "Morning Hermione; not too bad, just wishing the school had less stairs."

Hermione smiled sympathetically, "I think every Gryffindor and Ravenclaw would agree with you. We have to climb that every day. After dinner as well, when we're tired. The dorms have a great view, but sometimes, I don't think it's worth it."

Daphne and Tracy began making their way up the next flight of stairs, with Hermione falling into step beside them. Daphne looked a little weirdly at the Gryffindor, then, after looking around to check no-one could overhear, she turned to Hermione, "Um, Hermione...not that I would normally mind you tagging along, but you do know it's Valentine's, right? Tracy and I aren't looking for company."

"I'm on my way to meet up with Harry. Who just _happens _to be in the same direction as the two of you are going," Hermione explained, doing her best to keep a knowing smirk off her face. After all, Daphne was the only one of them who hadn't been told about the plans for the Room of Requirement.

Tracy giggled at the look of bemusement on Daphne's face, before opting to put her out of her misery, "Daph, Hermione and Harry are using the same secret room as we are. It was Harry who suggested it. Apparently he and Hermione use it quite often."

Daphne's smile in return was a little forced, "Oh, that's..._lovely_. I just thought it would be the _two _of us, though," She directed the last sentence to her girlfriend.

"It _will _be, for most of the time. Can't say anymore yet; just trust me, Daph," Tracy added, seeing that Daphne was having none of it. By now, they had reached the seventh floor.

"Yeah, this place is _amazing_. Trust me; you'll have all the privacy you _require," _Hermione couldn't help teasing Daphne a little more. Tracy shot her a look, however, so she didn't push any more.

Hermione ended up walking in front of the couple as they came up to the tapestry of Barnabus the barmy. The seventh floor was deserted apart from the three of them, so Daphne and Tracy took the advantage to walk arm in arm.

Hermione opened the door as the two loitered behind her, and she walked in first, intending to turn around and watch the look on Daphne's face at her first experience of the Room of Requirement.

However, what the room held distracted Hermione, pleasantly surprising her so much, she completely forgot about Daphne.

There was more than one room; there were at least two more, judging by the doors to the left and right. When she and Harry had used the room before, it was always just that, a _single _room. Bigger, smaller, equipped however they wanted, but always just _one _room.

Hermione wondered if she and Harry had gotten to fixated on the name; _'Room_ of Requirement', that they had assumed there was a limitation that didn't exist.

The next thing was that there was an outside. An actual area which appeared to have natural light and all the conditions of an outside balcony. But, that was surely impossible to have, at least, from where the Room of Requirement was in the castle.

They'd had windows before, ones which looked out on magically created scenes conjured up by the room itself, but the big french windows on the far side of the room were open onto a balcony. Hermione could even feel a warm breeze coming in that had no place in Scotland in February.

This big changes completely overshadowed the smaller ones, like how the room, which was almost identical in style to the usual date-room that Harry and Hermione used, was set up for a few moments.

Hermione could definitely see a woman's touch, presumably Tracy's, in the decoration. There were a lot of pale pinks and pastel colours, rather than the bolder, stronger colours Harry would have chosen; even the plates on the family-sized dining table were Bone china, and had flower patterns on them, different from the plain gold plates that mimic the ones in the Great Hall, which Harry normally got when he prepared the room.

Speaking of Harry, he was standing to one side of the room, waiting for the three of them to stop marvelling at the room. He had put on that green shirt which matched his eyes, and, probably at Tracy's insistence, had forgone his normal blazer that he wore on their dates, opting for a dark green open-style wizard robe instead. As Hermione knew, Harry didn't have a robe in that colour, so she suspected that he'd charmed one of his school robes.

It looked good on him, but then again, most things did. In her opinion.

Once Harry presumed Hermione had finished gazing all over the room, he walked over and gave her a quick kiss, like he would most mornings, "Good morning 'Mione. You look amazing. Happy Valentine's."

The smile on Harry's face was infectious; Hermione soon found herself beaming right back at him. Harry's complement made asking Lavender to help with her makeup worth it, "Morning Harry. It looks like you've been busy."

Harry brushed it off, "It was nothing."

During the time Hermione was taking in the room and greeting Harry, Daphne, who along with Tracy had been right behind Hermione when she entered, was looking around the room absolutely gobsmacked.

"This room wasn't here before. I remember; in my first year I came up here to see the tapestry of the ballet-dancing trolls. One of the older girls had mentioned it and I thought it sounded funny. There was no room here then," Daphne said.

"This is the Room of Requirement. It only exists if you need it to," Harry explained. He was soon joined by Hermione and Tracy as the three of them explained how the room worked tailored to each individuals needs.

Daphne was stunned by how complicated the magic to do something like that would be. But, as there was no way to find out, let alone examine, the magic behind the room, they soon got distracted by breakfast.

Hermione was happy to see a lot of her favourites. There was croissants, a platter of fruit, large bowl of yoghurt, and French baguettes. There were also pots of honey, fruit preserves and warm, easy-spread butter.

Lastly, there were the drinks; dark, rich coffee, a steaming pot of tea and two ice cold pitchers of juice, one of pumpkin and one of orange.

"We're sharing meals because it's easier than arranging two separate menus, but after breakfast we each have our own side to retreat to," Tracy told Daphne and Hermione, indicating the two side doors.

"Which side is ours Harry?" Tracy asked, indicating herself and Daphne.

"That one," Harry pointed to the one which was on the left side of the room as you entered it.

Daphne smiled, "Sounds lovely and all, but let's eat. This breakfast looks and smells amazing."

Soon the four teenagers were tearing into their breakfast, "How did you two manage to get fresh croissants and baked baguettes? And _orange _juice, you never see orange juice in Britain."

Harry and Hermione were stunned by the last bit Daphne said. Tracy answered Daphne first, as best she could, "You need to thank Harry, he is the one who arranged the food."

The two Slytherins looked over at Harry, but he was still shocked at Daphne saying you never see orange juice in Britain.

"Harry?" Daphne prompted, calling Harry back to his senses.

"Oh, I just have a good friend among the kitchen elves. He baked them himself," The two girls accepted that with a nod, "Daphne, what did you mean when you said you never see orange juice in Britain?"

Daphne look at Harry a little confused, but answered anyway, "My family often spends the summer on the continent; France, Spain or Italy, mostly. Over there, they serve orange juice instead of pumpkin juice. I love orange juice, but I just can't get it in wizarding Britain. And my parents won't let me go to the local Muggle town, because _'you don't know how to act like a Muggle and we won't risk breaking the statute just for some silly little drink.'_"

The four of them continued with breakfast, chatting about mostly unimportant things. It was clear, though, that they were all looking forward to splitting up and heading to their separate dates.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry was a little nervous when he led Hermione to the room he had created for them.

The first room he was confident on. It was a variation on their regular date room, only it was decorated for Valentine's, and he had added a bookcase full of wizarding fiction for Hermione to choose from.

What he was nervous about was the _other _rooms he had added. He hoped Hermione would like them.

"Oh, Harry! it looks so nice! Oh, and a bookcase? Are you thinking we could recreate what we did for my birthday?" Hermione sounded like she really liked that idea. She had a thing for laying her head on Harry's lap and having him read to her. They often did that at least twice or three times a week, though Hermione never tired of it, and Harry enjoyed the fact that Hermione enjoyed it.

Harry relaxed a little; at least one of the options he came up with was getting a good reaction, "That is one option, but there are a few others. But firstly; these are for you," Harry had picked up the bouquet of roses he'd gotten and presented them to Hermione with a flourish, "_Real _ones, not conjured by the room."

"Harry, these are lovely. Thank you."

Harry drew Hermione's attention to one of the doors she hadn't noticed yet, as they were under notice-me-not charms, so that no-one, apart from Harry, would see them till it was pointed out to them. Harry decided to have a little fun with this, and started to promptly act like a cheesy game show host.

_"Behind door number one we have; the Japanese hot springs experience! Spend a day relaxing in a recreation of a national volcano heated spring from the land of the rising sun," This was the one Harry was most nervous of, incase Hermione thought that he was just doing it to see her without a lot of clothes._

_"Behind door number two we have; the gardens experience! Spend the day sunbathing on the lawn surrounded by a beautiful garden of flowers._

_And our third and final door; watch your boyfriend flail about and fall on his ass a lot with our private ice skating rink!"_

Hermione grew more and more amazed with each option.

"Or, we can curl up on the sofa and just chill out and read," Harry went back to his regular voice now, "We can do any mix of these as you like. But, we are meeting Daph and Tracy on the balcony at one o'clock for a picnic lunch, and then again for dinner at the regular time."

"Wow Harry, this is amazing! I never even _considered _that the room was this adaptable. Um...why don't we go ice skating first, then we can warm back up in the hot spring. I assume that you had the room provide swimming suits for us?"

"Yeah, I did, but I didn't know what style you preferred, so I asked the room for a selection for you," Harry blushed, "You should be able to find something that you like," Harry was sure she would, the selection ranged from conservative one-pieces to a rather revealing bikini that Harry was positive he would only ever see Hermione in when he was asleep, with almost anything in-between.

"Then, after lunch we can check out the garden, maybe take a few books with us."

Harry nodded and lead the way to the frozen _one _that the room had conjured up. He had tried to get a Muggle ice-skating rink, but hadn't been able to. He didn't know if it was a limitation of the room, or the fact that he had never seen an ice-skating rink in his life. He suspected the latter.

The door lead to the inside of a small wooden hut, that was just big enough for the two of them to sit down and put on the supplied knitwear and ice skates. The room had provided a copy of Hermione's blue knitwear set that she had bought in Diagon Alley in the summer, as well as a thick jumper and and a pair of leggings that Hermione could wear under her skirt.

Harry was supplied a similar set of knitwear and a jumper, only his were in green instead of blue. After they had put on their jumpers, hats, gloves and scarves, Hermione kicked Harry out into the snow for a minute while she put on her leggings. Harry grumbled that she had kicked him out into the snow as he looked around at the rather large frozen pond.

Why couldn't she have kicked him back into the warm room with the sofa? She soon let him back in so that they could put on their skates.

Harry, who had never been skating before, was a little surprised at how easy it was to walk on a normal floor in skates. He had to keep his weight on the center of his feet, but if he shifted his weight the high sides of the boots pulled his weight back to the center. He listened intently as Hermione tried to explain how to ice skate.

"You need to keep your feet in an L shape. Then, you push sideways with one foot and let the other foot that is pointed away from the other slide over the ice," Hermione explained, but Harry wasn't getting it at all.

"I'll have to watch you when we get on the ice. I just can't picture it in my head."

Hermione looked a little disappointed that Harry didn't find her explanation enough, but there was nothing Harry could do. So, instead of letting them dwell on it, he hit them both with warming charms and led Hermione out to the ice.

Once they got to the edge of the ice, Hermione demonstrated to him what she meant, and put one foot on the ice and pushed off with the other, and gracefully started to slide over the ice. Harry watched her for a few minutes as she skated in circles and did a few figure 8's to warm up her limbs, then moved onto the ice to attempt a go himself.

And promptly fell on his ass.

Hermione skated over to him and offered him a hand to stand-up, which Harry had no choice but to accept, slightly denting his ego.

"It's Ok Harry, everyone has trouble at first. I fell my first time on the ice, so did everyone else who learned to skate. But give it ten minutes and trust me, you will be fine."

Hermione was both right and wrong. The couple spent the next twenty minutes with Harry clutching tightly to Hermione's arm as he tried to keep his balance as the two of them skated in a wide, lazy circle around the edge of the frozen pond. But after that twenty minutes, Harry was no longer clutching onto Hermione's arm for balance, but instead was holding her hand just because he wanted to.

After an hour the two were skating together rather well while Hermione showed Harry how to do a few simple tricks, as well as showing off a few that she knew that Harry wasn't ready to try.

After another half an hour on the ice, the two of them were playing a simple game of tag, that was mostly Harry trying to catch a much faster Hermione, though their legs were more than ready to take a break.

Hermione suggested that it was time to warm up again and Harry was in complete agreement; any more skating would see his legs give out under him. He thought he was in pretty good physical shape, but skating seemed to use muscles he didn't even know he had.

The two of them made their way back up to the hut. Hermione went to kick him out again but Harry pointed out that the hot spring had a changing area for each of them, and that there was no reason not to take advantage of it.

So all they did was take off their skates, which ended up taking a lot longer than they had expected. They had to help each other pull the skates off their feet as their feet had swollen a little bit in the tight boots, and this was made even harder by the numbness of their hands and the fact that they were giggling like crazy, but they had been having way too much fun to notice or care.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Once their boots were off, Hermione practically pulled Harry back into their sitting room and through the door to the hot spring. There were two doorways just inside the door, one had a pink curtain hanging in the doorway, and the other a blue one. The purpose was clear and Hermione pushed Harry towards the blue while disappearing behind the pink.

The space Hermione found herself in was a simple one person changing area. There was a bench for her to sit on, and a shelf for her to put her clothes on. The only other thing in there was a medium-sized chest, about half the size of her school trunk.

Hermione looked in the chest and found that there was a wide selection of swimsuits in there. Hermione blushed when the first one she pulled out was a bikini that was way too revealing. She almost went looking for Harry to give him a piece of her mind when she pulled out a one piece that was the most conservative swimsuit she had ever seen.

That was enough to get her to calm down and really look through the swimsuits; there were a few that were so revealing that there would be little point in wearing them, but there were also ones that were as modest as a bikini could get. It was the same with the one-pieces; they ran from one ridiculous extreme to the other, but in the middle was quite a few options that Hermione would be comfortable in.

If there had been anyone else besides her and Harry, she probably would have gone with a one-piece, but as it was only going to be the two of them Hermione was feeling a little daring.

She quickly stripped off. She practically had to peel off the leggings that the room had provided, as the melted snow and ice that had soaked into them, preventing them from just sliding off.

That done, she put on the suit she had selected and packed her clothes on the shelf next to a giant, fluffy, pink towel that was waiting for her to return.

Hermione wished there was a mirror that she could check herself in, but apparently Harry hadn't thought of that. Hermione turned to leave the changing area, only to jump as the wall next to the doorway that lead to the hot spring was taken up by a full body mirror that definitely wasn't there before, "Oh, the room must make some changes while you are inside," She checked out her appearance in the mirror and frowned.

Until she saw it in the mirror, she hadn't given a second thought to her makeup. The steam and hot water was going to ruin it. She considered cleaning it off, but it would be a shame, as she had spent so long getting it sorted this morning.

Then she had an idea; if the impervious charm could keep things from getting wet, maybe it could protect her look, too.

"Nothing to be lost by giving it a shot," She pulled her wand from where she had left it next to her clothes and aimed at her own face, "_Impervius._"

Hermione felt her magic as the charm took hold, and after another quick look in the mirror, she made her way out to the hot spring. The first thing Hermione noticed was the heat.

After the cold of the iced-over pond, the humidity and heat were almost oppressive.

The pool itself was styled to look like a natural pool, with a stream of what Hermione assumed was heated water flowing in on the far side of the pool. The area she was standing on was a wooden deck that stopped part way into the pool.

Harry was standing next to the water, waiting for her. He was wearing a dark-midnight blue pair of swimming shorts, leaving his chest in full view, something he wouldn't have been comfortable doing around anyone even a few months ago.

Right now though, Harry didn't look uncomfortable at all. He was too busy staring at her.

The bikini that she had chosen was not one of the bits of dental floss with the delusion of being a swimsuit, but it wasn't one of the most modest ones either. The one she had gone for was a black set with a white trim that flattered her figure, while still being relatively modest.

"See something you like, Harry?" Hermione teased him, unable to keep herself from posing just a little.

Harry suddenly realised he was staring and got flustered, "God, sorry. I uh...it's just you look...you know. Sorry."

Hermione giggled at him, "Calm down Harry; I wouldn't have chosen this suit if I was uncomfortable with you seeing me in it," She walked over to him, "So what do you think?" She posed a little more.

"So hot," A smile spread over Hermione's face that was soon obscured as she leaned in and kissed him.

When she broke the kiss she said, "good answer."

Then, with a mischievous smile, she pushed Harry into the water. Hermione didn't know if Harry expected it, or if it was pure reflex, all she knew was that when Harry fell back into the water he grabbed her, probably to try and steady himself. The result though was that she went crashing into the water about half a second after her victim.

The two of them struggled and splashed around for a few seconds as they got their bearings and untangled themselves from each other, getting their feet underneath themselves. Once they got their breath back, the two of them started laughing as Hermione shook her head to clear the water from her far too large cat ears.

"That was not one of my better plans."

"I don't know...seems to have worked out pretty well," Harry said as he splashed a small bit of water at her.

Hermione wondered if Harry had any plans for what to do here other than relax. While the pool was deep enough to swim a little, you could just as easily walk, and the pool wasn't really long enough to swim around anyway.

Hermione pulled Harry over to one of the rocks around the outside of the pool that had been placed just right to sit on, and after pushing Harry onto it, she climbed onto his lap so that she was facing him and stole his lips for a quick kiss.

After breaking the kiss, Hermione looked down at a grinning Harry and collapsed against him and pulled him into one of her hugs. The thing was, she had never given Harry a hug with so little between them before.

She could feel the flesh of his torso pressed against hers. She could feel the scars on his back under her hands, she could even feel Harry's rough and calloused hands on the small of her back where he held her in return.

It was a heady feeling that was affecting her to the point that she was glad that they were sitting in water and she didn't have to worry about Harry noticing just how worked up she was.

She could also feel just how much Harry was affected by them being so close.

She could feel _him_ pressing into her...well she had read a lot of words for it. Vagina, pussy, core, sex.

The truth was, she didn't really care what it was called right now, what she cared about was that it felt nice. Very nice.

She broke the hug and sat up straighter, but the movement only pressed herself onto him more. She considered getting off him, but then she saw Harry's face. He was nervous, he definitely knew she could feel him and he was worried about how she would react.

"Calm down Harry, it's fine. I'm not going to get offended by you getting an erection."

"But..."

"No buts. It's fine. I can move if you are uncomfortable, but it doesn't bother me. In fact, I kind of like it," Hermione was blushing now.

Harry seemed surprised, "You like it?"

She nodded, her blush deepening, "It...it shows me that you find me attractive. Which makes me feel good about myself."

"You are attractive and amazing and sexy and I love you."

Hermione melted against him, "You shouldn't use _'and' _so much in a sentence Harry," Hermione admonished him, before she laid herself against him, taking his lips again, only this time she didn't surrender them for a long time.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry left the changing area and went and sat in the sitting room. He was surprised that Hermione wasn't there waiting for him, as he had taken the opportunity of being alone to release the tension that had built from an almost naked Hermione sitting in his lap while she pressed her barely covered _self_ into him.

That had taken some time, and he expected Hermione would have been faster at getting ready and would be wondering what was talking him so long. It wasn't like she had to spend a long time drying her hair and fur.

She had a spell for that now.

About five minutes later, Hermione emerged from the door that lead to the hot spring, once again wearing the outfit she had arrived in. She left the leggings, jumper and knitwear set in the changing room, as she hadn't bothered to take them off after leaving the frozen pond until she changed into her swimsuit.

"You ready to go to lunch Harry?"

"Yeah, sure," He offered Hermione his arm, which she took, and he escorted her back to the dining room, where Daphne and Tracy were already waiting.

On the table that they'd had breakfast on that morning sat a wicker basket and a large blanket.

The basket was filled with the food and drink that Harry had arranged with Dobby. Daphne was just picking up the blanket when Harry and Hermione entered the room.

"Oh hey you two. I hope your morning has been as good as ours," Daphne smiled at them. She seemed more relaxed than the two Gryffindors had ever seen before. Not just emotionally, but physically as well.

"Hey Daphne, hey Tracy. Yeah, our morning was great; Harry arranged for us to go ice skating, then relaxing in a hot spring," Tracy picked up the basket of food and carried it out onto the balcony, while everyone else followed.

Hermione and Daphne continued to chat along the way, "The ice skating was a lot of fun; I haven't done it since Christmas break in our first year. And then soothing our aching legs in the hot water was Heaven."

Daphne coo'ed in all the right places as she listened to Hermione recounting of her morning with Harry. Daphne then started on about what Tracy had arranged for her.

Harry, seeing that Daphne was focusing on the conversation, took the blanket and laid it on the floor of the balcony.

"Ooh, Hermione, that sounds great. Tracy had a massage studio set up. You haven't lived until you have had one of Tracy's massages. It was _so _relaxing."

Tracy blushed as she and Harry listened to the conversation as they started to unpack the picnic, "My family owns a spa; I learned a few things over the years," Tracy answered to Hermione's questioning look, "Daddy said, even if I don't end up working there, I will own it one day, so I need to understand how the jobs are done."

The picnic had most of the usual stuff; ham-salad sandwiches, scotch eggs, pork pies, a bacon and cheese quiche, there was also a large bowl of salad and strawberry cheesecake for dessert.

The four teens sat on the blanket and helped themselves to the food. Harry bit into one for the scotch eggs and was pleasantly surprised to find that the boiled egg at the center still had a runny yoke.

"So Harry, you going to watch tomorrow's game?" Asked Tracy.

The Slytherin vs Hufflepuff match was scheduled for the next day. Draco had finally gotten his arm out of his sling a few weeks ago, when Madam Hooch had been heard discussing with Professor Snape that if the Slytherin Quidditch team didn't play this half term, then she would have no choice but to give Slytherin two forfeits, one for each missed game, taking Slytherin completely out of the running for the House cup. After that, Draco's arm had mysteriously shown rapid signs of improvement.

"I probably won't get much choice. We are playing Slytherin later this week as well; Wood will want us there to see how they are playing. It's going to be weird though, a lot of Gryffindors will be rooting for Slytherin tomorrow."

It was a rather busy week this half-term. First was the Valentine's day/Hogsmeade visit on Monday. Then there were three Quidditch games scheduled; Slytherin Vs Hufflepuff on Tuesday, then Gryffindor Vs Ravenclaw on Thursday, and finally Ravenclaw Vs Slytherin on Saturday.

"Why would Gryffindor be rooting for Slytherin?" Daphne asked. She was about as in to Quidditch as Hermione was, when Harry wasn't playing. So, not interested much at all.

"If Hufflepuff win tomorrow, then there is a good chance that they will win the cup. But, if we win then, it's an open field, and every House, including Gryffindor, is still in with a shot at winning. It's not that they would be supporting us as much as supporting the opportunity us winning gives them. Right Harry?" Tracy explained to Daphne.

"Guilty. I may have found that not everyone in Slytherin is a bully, but most of us Gryffindors still get along better with the Hufflepuffs as a whole. Supporting your house over theirs just feels weird."

"Why don't the two of you sit with Daphne and I tomorrow?" Invited Tracy.

"No offense, Tracy, but I don't think that's a good idea. The two of you may be our friends, but there is still Malfoy and his lot to worry about," Hermione obviously thought it was a bad idea, but wanted to be nice about it.

"It won't be a problem. Malfoy will be over the pitch and Crabbe, Goyle, Nott and Parkinson will be in the south stands. They always are when it's cold. The southern stands are a bit more sheltered from the wind."

"Yeah, but if we sat with you, the other Slytherins would tell Malfoy's lot that we are friends. Just think of what the stuck up prick would do to _you_ if he found out," Hermione stressed the word you.

Daphne agreed with Hermione, "Sorry love, we can't risk it. If that lot take an interest in us, then they will be watching for any weakness. We would risk them finding out about us, and then we would be screwed. You know what my mum would do," The two girls shuddered.

Hermione was quick to ask, "What would your mother do?"with

"She would take me out of Hogwarts for a start, and she would probably arrange for me to be married off to a rich pureblood."

"But that's..._barbaric_. Why would your mother put you through that?"

"Mum had...a bad experience with a lesbian she grew up . It's tainted her view," Daphne was starting to look a little uncomfortable, and as it seemed Hermione was going to press on, Harry jumped in, "'Mione love, I don't think Daphne wants to talk about this today. We are supposed to be having fun."

Hermione looked a little embarrassed to have pushed Daphne so hard, and after apologizing, took a bite of her sandwich as a cover to not talk for a short while.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione was having a great time.

Ice skating with Harry had been a lot of fun, and holding up Harry while he learned to ice skate had been nice and romantic. The hot spring had been perfect; the hot water had been just what her aching legs had wanted after their morning on the ice. She had done a bit more with Harry than she had planned when she started grinding on him, but it was definitely not more than she was comfortable with.

She had gotten so worked up that she had to take care of herself in the changing room before lunch. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed that Harry hadn't realised why she took so long in the changing room.

Probably a mix of both. She wasn't ready to go any further yet, but her hormones were definitely screaming at her to be ready soon.

Right now, she and Harry were relaxing in a beautiful garden that looked like it belonged to a manor house or even a small palace. There was a mix of sweet floral scents all around them, that were coming from the starting array of flowers that the room had conjured.

She and Harry were relaxing in a large deck chair that was built for two. Well, Harry was relaxing in the deckchair, she was relaxing on Harry, so that he could read the book they were sharing over her shoulder.

They were alternating who was reading out loud every few pages. The book was a wizarding fiction based on a Muggle raised wizard who had no clue who his parents were, and after he learned about magic, uses his powers to be a successful private investigator in the muggle world.

Hermione suspected the author was a Muggle born, or at least Muggle raised like Harry and the books protagonist, as the details of the Muggle world were accurate, if a little dated.

Hermione wondered if she should give Harry his other surprise once they had finished this chapter, or wait until they finished the book. She had just decided that she would do it between chapters, when Harry turned the page, showing that there was only about two paragraphs left in the chapter. The main character had just gotten a beating from an enforcer for the unknown antagonist, and being in a street full of Muggles had prevented the main character from defending himself with magic.

Harry finished the chapter and waited patiently for her to start reading the next chapter, "Harry, can we take a break for a few minutes?"

"Sure; is everything Ok?"

Hermione climbed out of his lap and sat up on the deckchair next to him, "Everything is _brilliant_. I haven't enjoyed myself this much in ages. I just need to give you your Valentine's gift," She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small box, not unlike a ring box, and handed it to Harry.

If Harry had handed her a box like that on Valentine's, she would be worried about opening it, but Harry didn't seem to have that problem as he opened the box and pulled out a shiny silver key.

Harry looked a little confused, "It's a key. A muggle one. What is it for?" The first two sentences were said to himself, but the question was directed at her.

"It's a key to my home. Well, our home. My parents' home. You know what I mean," Hermione was a little flustered, "I talked with mum and dad, and we want you to have a key. It represents that you are welcome there whenever. You can let yourself in, even if no-one else is there.

It's your home. You know...if you want it to be."

The two teens were frozen as Harry tried to process what she had just said, and she waited to see how he would react.

Suddenly, Harry was on top of her in a reversal of how it normally happened, and he gave her a bone-crushing hug. The book lay forgotten for the rest of the evening.

**Author's notes:**

praline* - a sweet filling in chocolates made from hazelnuts, sugar and cream.


	33. Chapter 33 - half term p2

**Chapter 33 - half term - P2**

**Thursday 17th February**

Hermione walked with Harry as he made his way down to the Quidditch pitch with the rest of the team. The crisp February air bit at her nose, and she was glad that she had decided to wear her full set of periwinkle blue knitwear. It was a little awkward, as blue was Ravenclaw's colours, but it was all she had.

She considered using a charm to change the colour, but she liked the way it looked now, and she doubted anybody would really care that much anyway.

She could see the Ravenclaws in front of them as they made their way down.

Most of the Gryffindor players, and house, were in high spirits after Slytherin's win over Hufflepuff on Tuesday, which meant that Gryffindor was still in the running for the cup. Harry, however, was suffering from his normal pre-match nerves.

Hermione didn't like that he had barely eaten anything at breakfast, but had only given a token effort to get him to eat. Experience had taught her that it was a losing battle; Harry just would not eat when he was nervous.

They reached the western changing rooms that were assigned to Gryffindor today. This was where Hermione would have to leave Harry, so before he could disappear into the changing room, she pushed him up against the wall of the stadium and gave him the deepest kiss she dared, right in front of the rest of Harry's team.

The twins and chasers whistled and cheered as the couple kissed.

"For luck Harry," Hermione said as she broke the kiss.

Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson each got speculative looks on their faces as they looked at the twins. As Hermione walked away to go find a seat, she wondered if the twins would be getting their own good luck kisses shortly. The two chasers' opinions of the twins was hardly a secret, though she wondered how the two could tell them apart.

Hermione found a seat in the front row, where she would be unobstructed in casting a spell to stop Harry from falling if he came off his broom again. That it made it easy for Harry to spot her was just a happy coincidence.

One downside of sitting in the front row was that she was among the many of the hardcore Quidditch fans. Hermione didn't mind Quidditch, but she could live without it. If Harry wasn't on the team, she probably would have stopped attending the matches after her first year. She was soon joined by Ron, Ginny and Seamus, as well as other fans who she was less familiar with.

Ron was still not talking to her or Harry, and if Hermione was honest with herself, that suited her just fine.

Ronald may have been Harry's first friend, but that clearly didn't stop him from being rude and unpleasant, and more than a bit of a bully, at least to her. Honestly, the only time he was even close to nice to her was when he wanted her to help him with his homework, which usually amounted to him wanting her to tell him what to write.

She would put up with him for Harry. She couldn't ask Harry to abandon his friends, even one like Ronald.

Harry didn't have enough people in his life who liked the real Harry, instead of just _'the-boy-who-lived',_ even if she was sure the only reason Ronald wanted to be Harry's friend in the beginning was because of the _'the-boy-who-lived'._

Hermione was sure he and Harry would make up eventually, and she would have to accept Ronald's insincere apology to keep the peace, but she would be doing it for Harry's sake, definitely not for Ronald. Until then, she was going to enjoy the silent treatment while it lasted.

_"And here it is; the third game in this year's Quidditch cup,"_ Lee Jordan's magically enhanced voice was projected around the stadium, _"First, we have a team untested this year, as the Ravenclaw's first match of the year was postponed till later this week due to an injury on the Slytherin team. They will be playing the Gryffindor team, who voluntarily forfeited their last game to Hufflepuff after the Hufflepuff Captain Cedric Diggory gave up on his chance to win the game to save the Gryffindor seeker from a horrifying dementor attack. It was an amazing show of humanity all-round."_

The crowd was cheering fiercely, and Hermione could see why; Lee really was good at riling up a crowd.

_"Will all the extra practice the Ravenclaw team has put in win the day? Or, will the Gryffindor thirst to prove themselves win out. It's going to be a good match today Quidditch fans, I can feel it. And here is the Gryffindor team now. We have; Bell, Johnson, Spinett, Weasley and Weasley, Potter and team Captain, Oliver Wood."_

Hermione's eyes locked onto Harry's as he walked out into the pitch and she joined the rest of the crowd as they cheered for the Gryffindor team. She watched as the Ravenclaw team walked out to similar cheers from their own house.

The two teams met in the middle of the pitch, shook hands and, after a few moments of conversation with the team captains, Madam Hooch released the quaffle.

The game was on.

Hermione couldn't see it from so far away, but she knew Harry well enough to know that as soon as his feet left the floor, all the nervousness drained out of him.

Harry was back in the sky, where he belonged.

Hermione, who was more than a little afraid of heights, didn't particularly like it when Harry flew around at break-eck speeds, and often in terrible weather; to her, it was a shock that he wasn't seriously injured every match, as he had so many close calls. Then again, most things to her where close calls. However, she couldn't deny the air was where he belonged.

_"And Gryffindor's Katie Bell takes the opening quaffle. She dives in and out of the other players; Oh! Nice dodge of that bulger, which is then sent towards the Ravenclaw captain by one of the Weasleys. Katie passes to Alicia Spinett…"_

Hermione tuned out the commentary and focused on Harry, who was circling the pitch, looking avidly for the snitch. Hermione was hoping Harry would find it soon, so that he could get back on the ground before anything happened to him. Even if something didn't go wrong, or nothing attacked the game, those bludgers were dangerous. Personally, she couldn't believe that it was allowed to have flying balls that were intended to knock people off of their brooms from such heights.

The problem was, the Ravenclaw seeker Cho Chang kept cutting in front of Harry and batting her eyes at her harry. Hermione actually growled as the Ravenclaw strumpet actually tried _flirting _with Harry.

"Don't worry Hermione," Ginny, who was sitting between her and Ronald, said, "Cho is just trying to distract and fluster Harry. It's a tactic often used by the Holyhead Harpies. Cho is basically admitting she doesn't think she could beat Harry with skill."

"I still don't like it. And isn't a tactic like that insulting?"

"If guys are too dumb to not ignore it, why should I care if they are insulted," Ginny shrugged.

"I mean it's insulting to women," Hermione pressed, and Ginny looked at her, surprised, "How can we expect men to see us as _equal _if, instead of matching them at skill, women like _that_," she nodded at Cho, "Try to use their looks to win. Look at Kate, Angela and Alicia; they aren't using their looks. They are giving it their all, and earning every point. But people will remember Cho doing this, and it will make it harder for us to be taken seriously."

Ginny looked thoughtful, "I never thought of it like that."

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry was not having the best time in the air.

He wanted to look for the snitch, but the Ravenclaw seeker Chang kept cutting him off. The strategy was obvious; Harry was a pretty good seeker. Better than Chang, and he also had the broom advantage with his nimbus 2000 being a cut above her comet two-sixty.

Chang didn't think she could beat him to the snitch, so she hoped to stop him from finding it until Ravenclaw had a 150 point lead.

Harry could respect the strategy behind that, even if it was annoying. The thing that was really annoying him was that Chang kept winking at him and flirting.

The whole school knew he was with Hermione. It had been major gossip last year. Some had thought that he was using Hermione to throw off suspicion about being the heir of Slytherin. Others had thought that Hermione was trying to carry favour with him to save herself. A few even thought that Harry had some crazy animal fetish and had changed Hermione to suit his tastes.

The point was that _everyone _had been talking about it, so Chang definitely knew he was taken, and yet she was still trying to flirt with him.

"Hey good-looking, why get distracted by the snitch, when it's just the two of us up here? Come on, we can talk about _anything_..." Chang winked at him as she cut him off once again, causing Harry to have to turn sharply to avoid a collision.

Harry was angry now, "Get bent you dirty slapper!"*

The look on Chang's face was fantastic. It morphed first from a look of shock into one of pure fury. If Harry was honest with himself, he would admit that he was being more than a little harsh, but in that moment, he just didn't care.

"You'll pay for that Potter," She then turned and flew off, presumably to actually try looking for the snitch herself.

Harry, however, didn't care, as he had seen the snitch. It was fluttering around the center of the pitch, near to the ground. Harry dove for the golden ball, but had to dodge a bludger in the last few moments, and in the few seconds Harry took his eyes off the prize, it had disappeared.

The game was starting to drag on, with Ravenclaw twenty points up against the Gryffindors. Harry was still looking for the snitch, and was also keeping an eye on Chang incase she spotted it first.

Then, Harry saw something. It was definitely _not _a snitch; no, it was three dementors, slowly drifting towards the pitch.

Harry dove to the ground, as the last thing he wanted was to be in the air right now. If he fell from his broom again, Hermione very well may confiscate his broom herself and never let him fly again.

Harry pulled his wand out of his robes, where he had moved it when he changed for the game. It was hard to draw a wand from a wrist holster when flying; one of the basics of flying was that you needed to keep at least one hand on the broom at all times.

"Expecto patronum!" Harry's spell formed and shot off towards the dementors. It was joined along the way by another that Harry thought was Hermione's, only he didn't have time to really look.

When Harry dived, Chang, thinking he had seen the snitch, had followed him, her eyes searching for the golden ball.

The problem was, she actually had found it.

Harry hesitated for a second, but he didn't feel the effects of the dementors, so he chased after the Raven-haired Ravenclaw. He was right on her tail; his faster broom was quickly gaining on the other seeker's.

They were neck and neck; the snitch was just out of their reach. The two chasers were both reaching, trying to take ahold of the fluttering snitch, but it remained right outside their grasp.

The snitch was closing on the edge of the pitch; it would have to change direction soon, or it would go out of bounds.

It would go either left or right. It looked like it would go left, but some instinct was yelling at Harry to go down, underneath Chang, and to the right.

Harry didn't understand it, but he gambled on his instinct, and he turned first, just as the snitch turned down and to the right, exactly like Harry's instinct had told him, leaving him in the perfect spot to pluck the fluttering gold ball from the air.

Suddenly the stadium was filled with noise. There were cheers of delight from the Gryffindors and disappointed groans from the Ravenclaws. Harry dove straight to the pitch. He wasn't high up anymore, but he wanted to have his feet on the ground before his patronus failed and the dementors were free to come after them.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione was feeling a little smug; she didn't know what Harry had said to the Ravenclaw seeker, but he had definitely said something which had stopped her flirting with Harry, and instead of flying around him while batting her eyes, she was now keeping her distance from him, while shooting dark looks at him every few minutes.

Hermione's heart leapt into her throat as Harry dived towards the pitch for the second time this match. She hated it when he did this; she always had visions of him crashing into the ground at full speed. No magic, no matter how strong, would bring Harry back from something like that.

Then she saw what Harry had seen.

Harry wasn't diving for the snitch, he was trying to get out of the sky before the dementors were able to make him fall. She whipped her wand out from her wrist holster and, concentrating on that memory of New Years, she called on her magic and shouted at the top of her voice, "Expecto patronum!".

She didn't wait to see what her patronus did, she was out of her seat and rushing down the stairs almost as soon as she had cast the spell. She took the steps two or three at a time, her head filled with images of Harry, lying broken on the pitch, leaving her too worried about getting to Harry to be concerned about little things, like falling down the stairs.

The stadium erupted in noise but she was in a stairwell and couldn't see what had caused it.

She took the last stairs in a full sprint. Then she was pitch side, and Harry was there, standing in the grassy field that was the Quidditch grounds. Her mind flooded with relief; he was _standing, _he had landed, instead of falling. thank magic for that.

She didn't stop or slow down, she just ran to him and threw herself around him for a second, before she started trying to pull him off the pitch. Before she could move him though, they were suddenly swamped by the rest of the Quidditch team, who were happily cheering and congratulating Harry for his catch.

Hermione was confused, even if Harry had the snitch, there was no way everyone could be this happy in the presence of dementors. It took almost a minute, but Hermione developed a suspicion about the so-called dementors.

While Hermione was dealing with her confusion, Harry was trying to get her, himself, and the rest of the team off the pitch, but his protests against celebrating and his worries about the soul-sucking creatures were being drowned out by the team's loud cheers.

Katie had even thrown her arms around Harry as she jumped up and down in excitement. Hermione might have gotten a little jealous, if it wasn't for the fact that Katie had trapped her along with Harry in the same hug.

Professor Lupin was the one to break up the Gryffindor Quidditch team, "Ok you lot; congratulations on the win, but let poor Harry _breathe_," The huddle of Quidditch players broke up with their grins and high spirits intact.

Finally able to breathe, Harry turned to Professor Lupin with alarm, "Sir! There are dementors; I just saw them before I caught the snitch. I sent out my patronus, but it won't keep them back long."

"Harry, Hermione, it's ok. Those...weren't dementors," Harry and Hermione both looked at the Defence against the Dark Arts Professor for an explanation, Harry with a disbelieving look, and Hermione with one of understanding.

"The two of you should probably come and see this for yourselves," The Professor led the couple, and a curious Fred and George, to the spot below where Hermione and Harry had seen the three flouting figures clad in dark robes they had thought were dementors.

In place of soul-sucking horrors, they found Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, in a heap on the floor, each of them wearing black robes and carrying brooms.

With their hoods up, and with brooms concealed under their robes, each of them could do a passable imitation of a dementor from a distance. The part that brought a smile to each of the Gryffindors was that the three Slytherins were not alone.

Professor McGonagall was laying in to the three of them with an expression of the utmost fury etched into her face, "A low down, dirty, unworthy trick!" she was shouting, "A cowardly attempt to sabotage Mr Potter. Seven nights in detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin! Each! And I am banning you, Mr Malfoy, from playing Quidditch for the rest of the year. And if you two are thinking of trying out for the team, forget it!"

Crabbe and Goyle looked suitably chastised, but Malfoy looked furious, "You can't ban me from Quidditch! I'm the Slytherin _seeker, _my father donated the brooms to the Slytherin team, just _wait _until he hears about this, he won't let it stand!"

Professor McGonagall clearly didn't like the way Malfoy was talking to her, if the expression on her face was any indicator, "That will be another 30 points from Slytherin, for talking back to a Professor, and another seven nights in detention, Mr Malfoy; I suggest you go back up to the castle, before you land yourself in detention until Easter break," The professor didn't shout, but the Scottish accent that was creeping into her words the more she spoke showed just how angry she was.

Malfoy turned and stormed back up to the castle, with his two lackeys following behind. Hermione felt that all it needed was for Malfoy to stamp his foot, and then he would be the perfect little drama queen.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione went to the post game party for a change; for once she didn't have any homework left that needed doing, and without any classes the next day to prepare for, she was letting her hair down, so to speak.

The twins had procured food from the kitchen, and Hermione had brought down her gramophone. She may only have muggle music, but as far as most Gryffindors were concerned, music was music.

Harry was talking through his point of view of the match with a couple of excited Gryffindors, while doing his best to match Ron at the buffet. In Harry's defence, he had skipped on most of breakfast due to match nerves, and was now actually hungry, where as Ron was just filling his face because there was food.

Hermione noticed Harry looking over at the buffet longingly, but he was cornered by Colin Creevey and Demelza Robins, who wanted a minute by minute reply of the match. As Hermione fancied a pumpkin pasty herself, she decided to get Harry something at the same time.

The buffet was mostly full of sweets and cakes, but the house elves had added some real food as well. Hermione grabbed a plate for Harry and added a few cheese sandwiches, a couple of sausage rolls and a chicken leg. Harry had been mostly eating cakes and sweets, so it wasn't a wonder he was still hungry. She grabbed herself a pumpkin pasty and turned to go back to Harry and bring him his food.

She was making her way across the common room when a hand reached out and took one of the sausage rolls off the plate.

"Hey!" She turned and found Ron standing there, biting into the puff pastry wrapped sausage which he'd just nicked from the plate. Without bothering to swallow, Ron said, "This food is for _real _Gryffindors," He tried to take the other sausage roll off the plate, but Hermione moved it out of his reach.

Hermione was annoyed and more than a little confused, "Ok..._first_; this plate is for Harry, so get your greedy hands off it, and second; what the _fuck _is that supposed to mean, _'real gryffindors'._ I am a real gryffindor!"

"_Real_ Gryffindors don't act like complete swots. _Real _Gryffindors don't attack other Gryffindors. _Real _Gryffindors actually _cheer _when the Gryffindor quidditch team scored a goal, and most of all; _real _Gryffindors don't wear _Ravenclaw _colours to the Gryffindor Ravenclaw match.

Why don't you and that bloody cat of yours get your furry ases out of Gryffindor tower and go to Ravenclaw, where you belong, traitor!" Ron was shouting at the top of his voice by the time he was finished.

Hermione was still as a statue.

Everyone was looking at her and whispering. Ron's loud voice had drawn everyone's attention, and they were all staring at her.

Hermione tried to hold it together, what he'd said really did hurt her. Before Hogwarts, she hadn't really fit in, she was too bookish for the other kids, and here at Hogwarts, she had always wondered if she would fit in better in Ravenclaw.

The hat even had considered sending her there.

Ron's words hit her right in her insecurity, and tears started to leak from her eyes.

Before she could do anything, Harry grabbed Ron by his shoulder, spun him around, and punched him right in the face. Ron crashed into the floor as Harry loomed over him, "_Never_ speak to Hermione like that _ever again!_"

Percy called over the crowd, "Ok, everyone, the party is over. Start making your way to your dorms," Some people looked like they wanted to argue, but one look at Percy was enough to dissuade them.

Ron climbed to his feet and started towards the dormitory stairs, but was interrupted, "Not you Ron; we are going to talk," Percy pulled his youngest brother over to one side of the common room and started talking in harsh, whispered tones.

Harry led Hermione over to the comfortable chairs next to the fire and sat her down, before joining her and curling up with her while she cried out the tears from Ron's attack.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Friday 18th February**

The next morning, things were oddly quiet at the Gryffindor breakfast tablet.

Harry had awoken in the common room on one of the sofas, near the fireplace, with Hermione curled up half on top of him. Hermione had wanted to stay with Harry after what happened, but she hadn't wanted to join him in the boys' dorm with Ron, and as Harry couldn't enter her dorm, they had decided to remain in the common room.

The pair had been awoken by a Seventh year, who was working on a herbology project and had to be up before dawn to tend his plants.

After a shower and a change of clothes, they had met up again, before heading down to breakfast.

Ron had joined the throng of Gryffindors heading to breakfast, and everyone had gotten strangely quiet. Ron had a massive purple bruise on the right side of his face. He hadn't gone to the hospital wing the night before; after speaking with his older brother he had stormed off straight up to the dorm.

"What happened to your face Mr Weasley?" Professor McGonagall had noticed the unusual behaviour of her lions, and had come down to investigate, seeing the state of Ron's face.

"I bumped it partying last night. It was my own fault," Ron half-lied. Ron was technically right; something _did _bump against his face, namely Harry's fist, and it most definitely _was _Ron's fault, so Harry felt no need to correct him.

Professor McGonagall looked at Ron, and it was obvious that she didn't believe him, "Mr Weasley, I have seen a lot of 'bumps' in my years of teaching, and I believe that something else happened here; do you want to try again?"

"I bumped it partying last night. My own fault," Ron repeated verbatim.

"Very well, Mr Weasley. Go up to the hospital wing after breakfast and have Madame Pomfrey have a look."

"Yes Professor."

Harry relaxed, as it seemed Ron wasn't going to tell McGonagall the truth. He would have done the same thing, even if professor McGonagall was standing right there, but he didn't exactly want to spend the rest of the term in detention every night.

Hermione let out a breath as well; she had obviously be worried about the fallout. Especially since Professor McGonagall had taken to scheduling detention during the most inconvenient times.

The two of them returned to their breakfast of toast and eggs, until the mail came in and distracted them. Harry hadn't sent Hedwig to anyone since she had taken her weekly trip to the Granger's, and she had returned Monday evening with Dan and Emma's reply.

So, Harry was surprised to see her winging it in with a package to deliver.

Hedwige landed on Harry's empty plate and held out her leg for Harry to remove the familiar brown paper cylinder that most likely contained a muggle newspaper.

Dan or Emma must have asked Hedwig to pop back to them in the week when she delivered Harry and Hermione's weekly letters. Harry untied the paper from her leg as Hermione got herself a couple of rashers of bacon from a platter in the center of the table.

As soon as her leg was free of her burden, Hedwig shuffled over to Hermione and the bacon.

"Oh, I see how it is...It's not _me _you love; it's just the bacon," Harry teased.

Hedwig leaned back to Harry and gave his finger a friendly nip, before turning to Hermione, who was breaking up the bacon and feeding it to the snowy owl.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry was reluctant to read the paper; even though his aunt had been found guilty, there was a slim chance that she wouldn't be sent to prison, and just the idea of that was stressing Harry.

In the end, Hermione, exasperated with Harry's indecision, dragged Harry up to the Room of Requirement and pushed the paper into his hands for him to open.

Harry opened the brown paper and found another copy of the Daily Mirror, dated from yesterday;

'**Most evil woman in Britain' Locked up for good**

_Yesterday, the right honourable Judge, John Deed QC*, passed sentence on Miss Margery Eveline Dursley. The forty-two-year old spinster was found guilty of numerous crimes, including but not limited to, sixteen counts of child endangerment, sixteen counts of unlawful imprisonment, multiple breathes of child labour laws and multiple charges of animal cruelty._

_The right honourable Judge Deed had this to say at her sentencing, "You are a vile and disgusting person, who, with full knowledge of the harmful effects of your actions, and the illegality of those actions, undertook them anyway, merely for your own profit._

_While in this courtroom you have shown some small measures of remorse, it is my firm belief that you are only repentful because you are here in court, and I believe that if you could, you would have no problem continuing to exploit the weak and the powerless for your own gain._

_It is with this in mind that I pass sentence; in summary, you will be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure for a period of one hundred and twelve years. You will be eligible for parole in fifty six years."_

_That's right readers; a minimum of 56 years. That means that inmate Dursley, who is currently 42, will be at least 98 by the time she has the opportunity to walk free, and only then if she spends her time at HM Prison Holloway as a model prisoner._

_Our reporter though, after having had the privilege of interviewing two of the older survivors of Miss Dursley's 'care', is hoping that the now lifelong spinster never sets foot outside of a prison again for the rest of her life._

_The two who were interviewed, who will remain unnamed due to their age, both said that they couldn't have hoped for a better result, and wished to express their thanks to the British legal system and the people who work in it, for everything that they did in bringing this vile woman to justice._

_The Prime Minister has spoken with the Department of immigration, and although the families of the victims came to the UK illegally, they are talking about granting the victims of this horrendous crime permission to live and work in the UK indefinitely._

_This reporter would like to end this report by wishing the victims and their families good luck on a brighter future._

Harry handed the paper to Hermione, who took it and started reading.

It was over; one of the monsters who haunted his dreams was dealt with. It was strange, Harry thought, he thought he would be jumping for joy at this news, but he wasn't.

That aunt Marge had gotten what she deserved, only underscored everyone who hadn't. Uncle Vernon, aunt Patina, the Death Eaters and Voldemort. They were all still running around free.

He felt arms reach around from behind him, as Hermione pulled him close and rested her head on his shoulder, "How are you doing Harry? Are you Ok?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay; it's just, Aunt Marge was the smaller of my problems. Yes, she was horrible, but she wasn't around a lot, you know?" Harry tried to explain how he was feeling.

Hermione tightened her arms around him, holding him closer, offering what comfort she could, "At least she is out of your life for good. You can start putting her behind you now."

Harry knew she was right; he needed to focus on the positive. Marge was gone, and maybe, just maybe, the other Dursleys would see it as a wake-up call.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Saturday 19th February**

The last Quidditch match for this term was Slytherin Vs Ravenclaw.

All of Slytherin was furious with Malfoy after he got himself banned from quidditch. Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch captain, had been left with only one day to find a replacement seeker before the Ravenclaw game.

According to Daphne and Tracy, the rumor in the Slytherin common room was that Malfoy had tried to get his father involved to reverse the ban. But, Malfoy had already spent a lot of his influence with the school governors last year, when he had pushed them to remove Dumbledore from the school.

This meant that warlock Malfoy unable to get a meeting with the governors scheduled before the Slytherin Ravenclaw game.

There was also a lot of resentment among the good seekers in Slytherin. A number of them had tried out for the Slytherin spot at the start of the year, only for them to snubbed because Malfoy had bought his place on the team with a full set of new Nimbus 2001's. As they all knew that they wouldn't be welcome on the team once the ban was lifted, they were refusing to play for the team now.

Flint had pressed Zabini into playing in the end.

Slytherin had been humiliated by Ravenclaw.

Zabini, who was a bit of a player, and not in a relationship, had fallen for Chang's flirting without any second thoughts, and Flint hadn't been able to leave his anger at Malfoy off the pitch, and as such was so distracted he kept fumbling the quaffle.

The final score was forty to two-hundred for Ravenclaw, and all of Slytherin was blaming Malfoy and his two lackeys for making them look bad.

Harry hadn't enjoyed the result of a Quidditch match he hadn't played in this much before.

**Author's notes;**

Slapper* - noun - British slang - a girl with no class, style or dignity. A variation on "slut".

QC* - Queen's Counsel (postnominal QC), during the reign of a male sovereign known as King's Counsel (KC), are senior lawyers in various Commonwealth countries. They are appointed by letters patent to be one of "Her Majesty's Counsel learned in the law".


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

**Monday 21st February**

After half term, Hagrid seemed to have regained some of his confidence. The first Monday back, Hagrid had something other than flobberworms for the class. He met the class with a number of wooden crates on the ground next to him.

Judging by the occasional scratch or scraping sound emanating from these crates, there was definitely something other than flobberworms in them.

"Righ' then, gather round. I got a real treat for y'today. Who can tell me what these are?" Hagrid opened one of the crates and pulled out what looked to Harry like a dragon kit.

Hermione's hand shot into the air, like it always did, but this time it was joined by Fay Dunbar's and Draco Malfoy's. Hagrid looked at the hands and chose Hermione to answer.

"It's a pseudodragon, Professor. A lizard that was hatched from an egg which was bathed in dragon magic while it was incubated. The dragon's magic changes the lizard to be more like it. The lizard takes on the shape and some personality traits of the dragon it was exposed to," Hermione answered in textbook fashion. As she said this, the pseudodragon in Hagrid's hands began snuggling into the large man, not unlike an affectionate cat would do.

"Very good 'ermione; ten points to Gryffindor. Pseudodragons are mostly created when wild lizards or snakes build nests near to a dragon nest. The magic that fills the air around dragons will be absorbed by these little 'uns, and it will make them more dragon like.

They will grow wings and feet, in the case of snakes, and, like dragons, will like to collect shiny metal objects such as gold. People who keep them as pets will often find little stashes of shiny coins and sweet wrappers hidden throughout their houses," Hagrid was still absentmindedly fussing over the pseudodragon in his hands.

"Now pseudodragons don't get the ability to breath fire. Instead, they often 'ave a venomous sting in their tail. The venom is not fatal to humans, unless you receive ten or more stings, but it can knock you out and it will put you in the hospital wing till tomorrow. They're very friendly though, so long as they don't think they need to defend themselves, they won't sting you."

Hagrid went on to tell them about how to handle them without scaring them, telling them about what they eat and how to take care of them.

"Ok, I want you to get into pairs and come and collect one of the pseudodragons. Then, I want you to sketch a diagram of them and label it."

Harry partnered with Hermione and they went and collected a beautiful little scarlet dragon from one of the crates.

Hermione looked it over first, "I think this one is a girl, Harry, and I would say it was hatched around a Welsh red dragon," Harry would have to wait for a closer look before he could have an opinion on the critters gender, but he definitely agreed that she resembled the less common Welsh red dragon.

Harry was about to take the little thing from Hermione when there was a commotion over by the crates.

Hagrid was standing in front of Malfoy and Pansy, stopping the pair from collecting their own pseudodragon, "You will need to fill out this test before you can handle one of the dragons, Malfoy," Hagrid handed Malfoy a clipboard with a few pieces of parchment on it.

"What! None of the others had to pass any kind of test," Pansy was upset for Malfoy.

"Parkinson, unlike Malfoy 'ere, none of the other students tried calling a Hippogriff an ugly brute, something extremely dangerous to do, especially with me tellin' ya that they're proud animals that you shouldn't insult. So, I need to make sure that he understands 'ow to treat this little creatures right before he can handle one."

Neither Harry nor Hermione could keep the grins off their faces; the idea that Malfoy would have to pass a test before he could handle a pseudodragon had been an idea Hermione had come up with, but Hagrid hadn't gone for it at the time.

It seemed as though he'd had second thoughts.

With Harry now holding the cat-sized dragon, Hermione went to get some meat to feed her. When Hermione picked up a bowl of some red meat, presumably beef, the pseudodragon, who had worked its way onto Harry's shoulder hissed out, "No! I want the chicken!"

Harry was startled and proceded to fall backwards, landing with the pseudodragon on his chest.

"You can talk?" Harry asked in bewilderment.

"I can talk with you, speaker. My mother was a belly crawler. Please, tell your mate to get the chicken. I don't like the beef," The pseudodragon had a strong Welsh accent and a defiant female quality to its voice.

Harry looked around and found that a lot of the class was staring at him in mild fear and awe.

Harry sighed, _of course everyone had to notice him once again_, "It's not like none of you know I'm a parselmouth, so why are you all staring? Hermione..._she_ said she likes chicken instead of beef," Hermione was also staring at Harry, but not in fear.

If Harry had to guess, Hermione seemed a little jealous that he could talk to the pseudodragon when she couldn't.

The rest of the class, upon hearing Harry's proclamation, went back to their own pseudodragons, satisfied that he wasn't talking about killing muggleborns or the such, though a few of them kept watching Harry with covert glances.

Hermione returned the bowl containing beef and swapped it for one with bits of cooked chicken, before returning to Harry and the pseudodragon, who was currently playing with a stay lock of Harry's hair that was occasionally tickling her nose. Playing was a loose term, what with the pseudodragon tightly grasping and pulling Harry's hair being considered _playing _by the creature.

"Bloody typical _Potter_; always has to be fucking special," Malfroy called over the rest of the students.

"Oi, Malfoy! Watch your bloody language; that's five points from Slytherin," The Slytherin sneered at Hagrid, but the professor didn't notice as he was coming over to Harry and Hermione, "So, you can talk to pseudodragons Harry? I though it were only snakes y'could talk to?"

"She said her mother was a snake, so maybe that's why?"

Hagrid looked thoughtful for a moment, "Maybe; she might still have enough snake in her to count, as far as parseltongue is concerned."

Harry nodded and picked up a bit of chicken. "Watch my fingers, Ok? Your teeth look sharp," He held up the strip of white meat from the plate for the pseudodragon, and just like a snake, her head shot forward as she snapped up the food offering.

"Do you have a name?" Harry asked.

After she finished chewing she answered, "Mother called me Little Red, because I look like the Big Red she built her nest near."

"Little Red said the dragon her nest was near looked like her, and she has a Welsh accent, so you were right, 'mione; her magic came from a Welsh Red," Harry told Hermione, who added the information to the top of the page they were going to put their diagram on.

"Little red?" Hermione said.

"Apparently it's her name."

With Harry able to communicate with Little Red, the job of sketching her was easy. Once Harry explained the concept of drawing to the little dragon, he discovered that she was more than a little vain.

She loved the idea that Harry and Hermione wanted a way to, as the little creature put it, '_gaze on my glorious self after I leave'._

Harry and Hermione finished their sketches and labelling first, and then spent the rest of the lesson playing with Little Red.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Sunday 27th February**

Harry and Hermione were again in the office of their DADA teacher for Patronus lessons.

They hadn't had one for over a month, as Professor Lupin had been looking for a way to replicate Dementor exposure which didn't involve risking the use of a real Dementor.

After one of their classes earlier in the week, he had informed them that he thought he'd found a method and for them to meet him in his office today.

The Professor pulled out an old trunk, not unlike the trunks Harry and Hermione had used in their first two years at school.

"In here, I have another boggart. I have a theory, after everything that has happened. When this boggart sees you, Harry, it will hopefully take on the form of a Dementor," Both teens eyes widened at that statement.

The idea that they would face a Dementor, even a boggart posing as one, was alarming, if not terrifying.

"Now, it won't be as bad as a real Dementor. For one, the boggart won't try to eat your soul; it just wants you to be afraid so it can feed off your fear. It also won't be as strong as a real Dementor, and it is still vulnerable to the _Riddikulus _charm, so we can stop it if the effects prove too much to handle."

Hermione listened to their Professor aptely, and felt rather confident that everything would be fine, but by the look on Harry's face, it was clear that he was less confident.

Hermione couldn't blame him; Dementors were definitely frightening creatures, and after the memory that had been brought forth the last time he was exposed to those things, there was also a more personal kind of fear as well.

She was worried that Harry would avoid training to keep from being pulled back to the memory of that night again.

She was more worried that he would push himself just so he could hear his mother's last words.

As much as she could understand that such a memory would be precious, she was afraid for him; she didn't want him to torture himself just to hear his mother's voice.

She looked Harry over and could see that part of him was thinking just that.

She could see that he wanted to try the spell, practice casting his patronus to protect himself from such things. But he also wanted to let the Dementor affect him.

Hermione wanted to drag him out of Professor Lupin's office, and keep that horrible creature away from Harry, but he needed to learn the spell. He needed to be able to resist the temptations of his memories, and knowing how Harry's luck ran, he would need the spell at some point.

"First thing we need to do is test out if the boggart will take the form of a Dementor for you, Harry. This is all academic until we find if I am right about what form the boggart will use to attack you."

The professor waited for Harry to signal he was ready, and then threw open the trunk.

Hermione's breath caught in her throat.

She had never before hoped as much as she did right now that the Professor was wrong about something. She silently begged that Harry had some extreme phobia he hadn't yet told her about; something simple and easy to deal with.

Something that wouldn't lead to Harry having to relive that horrible night another time.

Of course, her hopes were dashed as a tall figure in tattered black robes rose out of the chest focusing on Harry.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione was in the kitchen eating dinner with her parents. She was feeling a little down.

Today was Harry's birthday and she wasn't going to be able to send him his birthday present until tomorrow.

Hermione had been horrified when in his first year, Harry had let slip that he had never had a birthday present before. She had tried to send him something last year, but the stupid house elf had stolen it.

And this year, her present was going to be late because she needed to get to the post office in Diagon Alley to send it, and her parents couldn't take the day off work until tomorrow.

She understood her parents had important jobs. Dentists might not sound important, at least, not until you had a cracked tooth or a bad cavity.

If her parents took a day off without arranging cover, people who had come to see them could be left in pain, sometimes a lot of pain.

But understanding didn't always make it easy. Harry was in pain as well; maybe not _physically_, but from what he had said, his relationship with his relatives wasn't a good one, and the broomstick service kit she had gotten him would definitely cheer him up a bit.

She took a bite of her meal, barely tasting it. Her parents had gotten some salmon to cheer her up; her new taste buds normally go wild over fish, but right now she was just too preoccupied.

She was abruptly pulled out of her thoughts when a loud crack happened right behind her.

She turned quickly looking for the source of the noise. And screamed.

Harry was standing right in the middle of her kitchen, holding Hedwig in his arms.

_Something was wrong; Harry was shirtless, and oh my god, is that blood! _

"Hermione..." The desperation and pain were clear in his trembling voice.

"Harry?" The sight of her best friend, her boyfriend's sudden appearance, and in such a state, had sent her mind reeling.

Then Harry collapsed.

"Harry! Harry!" Hermione rushed over to his side, her chair sent clattering across the room in her haste.

With all the blood covering him and Hedwig, Hermione was terrified that Harry had died. She was on her knees, shaking him, trying to get him to wake up, when she felt the strong arms of her father grab hold of her and pull her away.

Her mum was now next to Harry and checking him for injuries, but Hermione was fighting to get back to him.

"The blood is from Hedwig," Hermione stopped fighting upon hearing her mother's words, and collapsed into her father's arms, crying tears of relief.

Harry was Ok. Hedwig still needed help, but Harry was Ok.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

"Expecto patronum!" Hermione tried to cast the patronus, but the memory of Harry appearing in her kitchen and collapsing was constantly being brought to the front of her mind, even as she tried to picture their conversation from New Year's; how they'd told each other they loved them, how they'd kissed.

There were a few wisps of silver from her wand, but it wasn't even as strong as what she was able to do the first time she cast the charm.

Next to her, Harry was also trying to defend himself against the "Dementor", and whatever horrible memory it was stirring up, but he appeared to be having even less luck than Hermione was.

"Expecto patronum! Expecto patronum..." No matter how much he tried, it seemed that Harry couldn't summon the happiness needed to call a patronus.

Just as the fill of the dementor started to sap the warmth from hermione there was a shout of _Riddikulus_ from Professor Lupin.

Suddenly, the Dementor lost its oppressive aura, and its tattered robes were suddenly replaced with a extra long muggle tie-dye T-Shirt with a peace symbol on the front and the Dementor was holding a sign that read _'groovy'_.

Hermione couldn't help it the image was complete anathema to her idea of dementors that she Burst out laughing.

At her laughter, the boggart retreated back into the trunk it had been released from, and the two of them were able to relax. Professor Lupin handed them each a square of chocolate and took one for himself.

"Eat up," He said, before wolfing down his own piece.

Hermione copied the Professor, and as soon as she had swallowed the small bit of chocolate, she felt noticeably better. Harry, though, was staring at the chocolate in his hands, not eating it. He was obviously thinking about something else.

Hermione didn't need to be a genius to know he was thinking about his parents, "Eat your chocolate, Harry," Her tone was gentle but firm. He couldn't be consumed by thoughts of his parents; it wouldn't help him deal with the pain.

Harry looked at her, "Sorry, what was that? I was just...thinking."

Hermione flashed Harry a sad smile, "Eat your chocolate, Harry," she told him again. This time he did. Hermione could actually see him relax as the chocolate took away the lingering effects of the pseudo-Dementor.

"Well it looks like the boggart is a complete success. Sorry about that," Luping said. Hermione understood what he meant; it was good that they had a way to practice, but it meant that that the practice would be hard on them. As much as it would be emotionally taxing, they needed to experience that and be able to fight it.

Hermione looked at the chocolate squares on the plate that Professor Lupin had set out; she counted of nine pieces in her head, enough for three more attempts.

It was then that it dawned on her that their teacher was not immune to the effects himself; the man was evidently torturing himself in order to help them. And considering his condition, life was hard enough for him to begin with.

Professor Snape's werewolf essay had been what had clued her in to their teacher's condition. It was the only thing that fit with his disappearing from the school every full moon. She had been concerned at first, but she had checked the Marauder's map on one of the nights of the full moon, and couldn't find him on it anywhere.

He may be a danger to anyone around him during the full moon, but it seemed like he was taking precautions to keep others from harm, especially the students at the school.

She considered telling Harry, but had decided against it. As long as Professor Lupin was taking sensible precautions, then his illness was his own business. Having two parents in the medical field had taught her that people had the right to keep their medical information private.

It was up to Professor lupin if he wanted to tell Harry, not her.

What really annoyed her was that Snape had clearly tried to get around that with his essay. He had tried to call attention to information that someone had a right to keep private.

"Let's try again," Harry's words drew her thoughts back to the here and now.

Professor Lupin sighed, but agreed.

The results were about the same as last time, maybe a fraction more silver mist, but that was all.

The Professor once again ended the round with a '_Riddikulus'_ spell, this time transforming the boggart into a miniature version of Snape, and he was being chased by a large bottle of shampoo that had the words _'for the greasiest of hair'_ on the side in flashing neon light.

The three of them were unable to keep from laughing at the ridiculous sight.

They tried a few more times until the plate ran out of chocolate. They weren't able to improve much, but they were definitely getting better.

Then Professor Lupin called them over, "Ok you two, that was really good, for your first time attempting that under the influence of a Dementor's aura. It takes about half of adults who try two to three sessions before they get any mist. That two third years got this far at all is praise worthy, and you haven't finished yet," He held out two massive slabs of honeydukes best chocolate to the two teens, "These are for you. You will eat the whole bar tonight, or I will have Madam Pomfrey after me. And, knowing my luck, she'll put me in detention scrubbing bed pans."

Harry and Hermione laughed; it was easy for them to picture the stern Hogwarts nurse giving even a grown man detention.

While Harry checked with the Professor over their latest bit of homework, Hermione broke off a bit of her chocolate and let it melt on her tongue, filling her mouth with a creamy velvety sweetness. It was both a pity and a good thing that she and Harry had been confined to the castle.

She didn't think her will to avoid sugary sweets would service regular trips to Honeydukes. Their chocolate really was the best.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Vernon Dursley pulled his car into the car park at the restaurant. Both he and his wife were dressed to impress; he was wearing a black pinstripe suit that his wife said looked slimming, and she was wearing a dark purple cocktail dress, that had cost him way more than he thought it was worth.

They were meeting with a couple of dentists; the Grangers, who had been holding up a contract he needed.

The media attention around what the freak had done to his sister had gotten the executives to take a closer look at him. The self-important stuffed-shirts had not been too happy with him, and had tried to push him to resign.

He had told them to piss off. He had the best record of bringing in large deals, like the one he was finalizing tonight. The executives may not like him, but the shareholders loved him; he was great for the bottom line, and that was all that mattered.

He led his wife into the restaurant. She held onto his arm to keep her balance, her heels being difficult to balance on the uneven cobbles outside the restaurant.

The restaurant had low light and was decorated with a lot of dark woods.

"Reservation for four, under the name Dursley," Vernon told the receptionist, "Have our guests arrived yet?"

"Not yet, sir. Your table will be ready soon, if you would like to wait in the lounge, I will direct your guests there when they arrive," The man had a thick french accent, and as Vernon led Petunia over to the bar he heard her muttering, "bloody foreigners coming over here, taking jobs from good British people."

Vernon gave a grunt of agreement and ordered them some drinks. A double scotch for himself, and a white wine for Petunia, then they sat to wait for the Grangers.

They didn't have to wait long. The two dentists, a husband and wife team from London, soon arrived and the four were soon seated.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Emma was having a hard time acting as though she was enjoying herself, sat across from the two people who had taken it upon themselves to try and break the lovely young man her daughter had fallen for, all because he could do magic and they couldn't.

To Emma, who never had a big family and treasured every bit she had, treating family like they had treated Harry was just wrong.

And the _nerve _of the women to tell Harry that they couldn't afford to feed him, while she goes out wearing a £500 pound dress. She wanted to tear the dress off her and rip it to shreds, but she remembered the plan that Dan had finally told her, and so instead smiled and asked, "so Petunia, do you have any children?" She knew the answer of course, because of Harry, but she didn't want them to know that.

"Oh yes, we have a son; he will be fifteen soon."

"Oh, the same age as our daughter then. She will be fifteen in September, though, sometimes she acts like she is going to be twenty. She seems in such a rush to grow up sometimes."

"I know what you mean, sometimes Dudley seems _so _grown up. I often miss my little Diddy-kins; it seems like just yesterday that all he wanted was to crawl in my lap and have a hug from mummy. But, that's just the way of things, I suppose."

'_And where was Harry when your Diddy-kins was looking for a hug? Locked in the cupboard under the stairs? Alone and scared, you fucking bitch.'_

"Of course, Dudley is in boarding school most of the year, so I only get to see him for Christmas, Easter and summer."

"Oh, you send your boy to boarding school as well? Our Hermione attends a boarding school in Scotland", Dan broke into the conversation.

"Yes, he goes to Smeltings, my old stomping ground; he will get a _real _education there," Vernon inputted, the pride evident in his voice.

"That's nice, our Hermione is the first in each of our families to go to boarding school. She loves it; top of her class for most subjects. Here; this is my little girl," Dan pulled a small photo out of his wallet and showed it to the Dursleys, "That was taken last New Year's, when she was home for Christmas."

The Dursleys cooed over the photo appreciatively, before Vernon pulled out a photo of his son. Both the Grangers thought that Dudley Dursley looked like someone had stuffed a pig into a private school uniform, but instead said how grown up and mature he looked.

Soon dinner arrived and talk turned to business. At Dan's questions, Vernon told them that they could fill the order relatively quickly. Vernon, after his previous conversations with Dan, had already made preparations to begin the manufacturing of the needed drills.

Then Dan revealed that he had the contract signed in his pocket for Vernon to take with him when he left.

At that revolution from Dan, the atmosphere at the table changed to one of celebration. Dan ordered a round of drinks that soon disappeared, along with their food. That was then followed by more drinks, until everyone was clearly inebriated.

Suddenly, Dan's new mobile phone went off and he answered. Dan took his call outside, leaving a tipsy Emma with the equally drunk Dursleys.

"So, as I was saying; Hermione comes home this Christmas, a boyfriend in tow.

My baby is fourteen. She isn't old enough for a boyfriend. But he was nice, really polite. Apparently, he normally stays at school over Christmas. His family doesn't want him home. How could people do that!? How can they expect a boy to grow up well without a family supporting him," Emma was acting like the alcohol was affecting her more than it was."

She was having fun calling the Dursleys bad parents to their faces, without them knowing it.

"Oh, I _completely _agree; it's family like that that lead to bad children and unproductive members of society. Parents like that should be arrested."

Emma wanted to laugh so bad as Petunia lambasted herself, "Oh, _definitely_."

Emma was about to continue when Dan got back, "Emma, darling, we need to go. There is a pipe has burst in the surgery; we need to get back and deal with it," As he said this, he counted out some money and left it on the table, "That should cover our part of the bill. If not, you have our work number, and we can pay you back."

Emma gathered her things quickly, and they were just about to leave when Vernon spoke up, "Um, the _contract_."

"Oh, right," Dan pulled a brown envelope from the inside pocket of his jacket and put it on the table, "There you go. We had a great night, but we need to get back. I'm sure you understand."

"We understand completely; go on, you have stuff to take care of. Good luck," Petunia added.

Dan led Emma to the carpark and, with a mad grin on his face, called a taxi to take them home.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Vernon was having a coffee before driving back to Surry.

He didn't normally drink coffee, but he hadn't meant to drink so much tonight, and wanted the caffeine to counter the alcohol. Having the contract signed had put him in a good mood.

The people at Grunnings trying to push him out would be silenced by the amount of money the shareholders were going to make out of this.

It wasn't just the drills, but the yearly certificate that medical drills needed, and the custom drill bits needed as well. This contract would be paying out for years, and that was in addition to any further sales that would come in the future.

Dental drills were a new, untapped market for Grunnings.

He picked up the envelope with the contract in it and opened it. He pulled out the contract and gave it a quick glance to make sure it was the right contract, then flicked to the end to check it was indeed signed.

It was; there was writing in the space for the signature.

He let out a little happy noise.

"Which of them sighed it?" His wife asked, her need for gossip fueling her curiosity again, no doubt. He looked at the signature closely;

_'Go fuck yourself, you bloody monster'_

He picked up the contract to have a better look. Surely his eyes were playing tricks on him.

A photo slipped out from between the pages of the contract. It was the dentist's daughter, _her-me-own_ or something; she was dressed up for a night out and she was...

She was **KISSING THE FREEK!**

His wife picked up the photo and froze.

All the little things that the Grangers had said that night suddenly took on a new context. Their daughter obviously went to that school with the freak. Meaning, she was one of them. That she was the first in that family to go to such a school meant that she was like Petunia's bloody sister; a freak born to normal people.

Then everything Vernon and Petunia had to say about the boyfriend's family started to register; they were talking about _themselves_.

But it was different; that boy was a freak, he didn't belong with normal people. And now the freak goes into the Granger's lives, uninvited, ruins everything, and these people blame _him _for the boy's shortcomings.

Ridiculous.

He gathered up his belongings and paid the check, before storming out with Petunia following behind him, trying to keep her balance on her high-heel shoes as she walked drunk over the cobbles. They were soon both in the car, and Vernon pulled out into the traffic, muttering about the Grangers and them getting what they deserved.

Then, there were blue, flashing lights filling up his rear-view mirror.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Emma was laughing her ass off in the taxi on the way home as Dan explained the last part of his plan to her;

"so, the contract isn't signed, but I wanted the Dursleys in a drinking mood. The call wasn't from our surgery, but from Dave's brother; you know, the one on the police force?"

Dave was an old friend of theirs from college; he had failed at dentistry, but he was a good guy, so they had kept in touch.

"Dursley is about to find himself with no sales contract to justify the retool he just ordered the company pay for, and, unless I am mistaken, a nice big court case for drink driving, and probably, from what Harry said about his temper, a charge for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer as well. Oh, and I left a picture of Harry and Hermione from New Year's in with the contract, so that he knows why we didn't sign it."

The taxi driver, previously pretending not to be able to hear them, then spoke up, "you keep talking about Dursleys. Any relation to that one that was in the news a few weeks back?"

The alcohol in his system made Dan less cautious with the truth than normal, "Her brother and his wife. Cut from the same cloth. The wife had a sister, who had a son before she died. The son, who is friends with our daughter, ended up with the Dursleys, until he turned up at our door-"

His wife cut him off, "Dan, no more; let Harry's affairs stay private," her tone conveying that there wouldn't be an argument over it.

Dan thought about it for a few moments before relenting that his wife was right, "Yeah, you're right," he turned back to the driver, "let's just say, he is safe now, and the Dursleys are getting their first taste of karma," the grin that covered Dan's face was like a kid at Christmas.

Just after the taxi had dropped off the couple, Dan's phone rang again. Emma let him talk as she fumbled in her bag for her keys. After a little struggle with the keyhole, alcohol and low light not helping, she was able to open the door, where she collapsed into the sofa as the world spun a little.

During the taxi ride, her body had absorbed more of the wine she had been drinking, and now she was definitely drunk, rather than the tipsy she had been at the restaurant.

She would definitely have a hangover tomorrow, but right now, she didn't care.

Dan came into the room carrying two large glasses of water. He handed her one, "drink up, it will keep the hangover from being too bad in the morning."

She took a sip and turned to her husband, "Who was on the phone?"

"It was Philip, Dave's brother again. Vernon took a swing at Phil, caught him in the mouth and chipped a tooth. I told him we would open tomorrow just for him," Dan explained.

"I don't think I will be fit to deal with work in the morning. I'm liable to hurt him with how hungover I'll be."

"He is coming by in the afternoon. Plenty of time for us to recover. Told him to pick up some co-codamol* from the pharmacy; it will tide him over. But, the good news is, both of them are currently sitting in a prison cell.

Petunia for a drunk and disorderly, so she will be released tomorrow morning probably. Vernon, though, is facing charges for driving under the influence and assaulting a police officer. Doubt he will see much, if any, prison time, but he will have a couple of hefty fines coming his way."

"So your plan worked?"

"Mostly. I didn't plan on Phil chipping a tooth."

"We can fix that for him. Did you tell Phill why you planned this little operation of yours?"

"Had to. Without telling him, he wouldn't have helped. He is pissed that Harry hasn't reported it, and wants me to ask him to think about it. He really wants to put Vernon behind bars with his sister, but he accepts that this is the best we can do for now."

**Author's Notes:**

co-codamol* is a painkiller that is a mix of paracetamol (acetaminophen) and the opioid codeine it is available in a number of strengths and the weakest strength is available in a limited number from pharmacies without a prescription in the UK. I have a lot of trouble with my teeth because of a childhood accident, I have had to use co-codamol a lot over the years while waiting for a dental appointment.

Ok, I know update s have slowed and I apologize for that between Matty and my self we just have a lot on at the moment. Matty is being brilliant with the betaing. squeezing in time to turn the results of this monkey hitting a keyboard into actual English.

So I'm a bit slow with the updates I have listed a few of the Vic's I am currently reading. And one I read a while ago that gave me some inspiration for this fic. All the included fics are rather complicated or are actively being updated. No abandoned fics :)

This first list is from archive of our own. They may be available on fanfiction dot net but I don't know.

Brilliant, but Scary by Free Range Snallygaster (RemedialAction) - A bit darker with a Slytherin Harry, Hermione and Ginny stringing in fist year currently in 4th year

Three little words by Rouven_Auge_des_Sturms_Singer - 4th-year Sirrus clears his name and a lot of stuff changes

What Happened At Privet Drive? by I_am_Jude - anther one with a cleared Sirius set in the 4th year it's still pretty early but it looks good so far

Daphne's Letter from the Future by TomHRichardson - a Harry/Hermione/Daphne fic set after the end of 5th year

awakening by SweetShireen - only two chapters so far set in 4th year Harry is disillusioned with the teachers and gets his life together.

Elfish Welfare by Tyrannic_Puppy - a pre-Hogwarts fic were Harry is raised by

Potter house elf's instead of the Dursleys and meets Hermione in muggle school.

The Power of Seven by VelvetInferno - NSFW - a harem fic that is full of actual plot as well as fluff. If you like that sort of thing give it a read.

Dobby's Deceit by Morraine - starts at the end of the second year Dobby instead of running off free becomes Harry's friend and helps him to sort out his life.

Harry Potter and The Gift of Aphrodite by Grim_T_Reaper - NSFW - a harry/Hermione fic were the two of them find themselves thrown suddenly into a relationship. Set in 4th year

Hermione's Furry Little Problem by Gandalfs_Beard - NSFW - COMPLETE - a catgirl Hermione fic that inspired a few elements of my fic an absolutely amazing read that I strongly recommend you check out.

And remember guys I love reading your reviews. If you think I could improve something I would love to know. I can't work on things if I don't know what they are.

Hope you all had a great Christmas/Hanukkah/Beltane or whatever it is you celebrate at this time of the year and I hope you all have a good 2020.


	35. Chapter 35

hey everyone Sorry, this chapter took so long to post. even now it still hasn't bean read over by my beta reader matty. the chapter has been waiting for him to do since i posted the last chapter but i haven't heard from him in weeks (matty if you are reading this I hope you are ok.) i didn't want to keep everyone waiting any longer so i did the editing myself so sorry in advance :) Matty did edit the first few paragraphs so I left a marker in the fic so that you can see what he edited and what i attempted to edit. hope everyone enjoys the new chapter

**reuploaded fully betaed see the end for more info**

**Chapter 35**

The second half of the term passed quickly and quietly. Hagrid continued his lessons with the pseudodragons, using them as a stand-in to talk about real dragons. Most of the class were impressed by just how knowledgeable Hagrid was when it came to dragons. Harry and Hermione were not surprised at all, knowing as they did about Hagrid's dragon obsession.

The Ancient Runes class was going well. The class was now covering basic warding and the construction of a ward. The groups were constructing a simple ward for a jewellery box. The project was academically interesting to Harry, as the goal wasn't to enchant the item, like they had done before, but to ward it, so that everything inside the warded box, and anything placed in it, was protected.

But it was the girls who were really getting into it. Apparently, both Slytherin and Gryffindor girls' dorms had a few members who would borrow jewelry without asking. According to the three girls, it wasn't malicious, the items were returned after, it was just annoying that some other girls wouldn't respect their private property.

"It's the girls with sisters especially," Daphne explained, as Harry tried to plan out on paper where the runes would go, "Astoria, my little sister, is the same; always borrowing my stuff. Some girls just treat their dorm mates like their sisters. And there are good and bad parts to that."

Harry was surprised that Daphne had a sister, as she hadn't mentioned her before, "You have a sister?"

Daphne nodded while she noted down a few things they would need to the essay that went with the project, "Yep, she starts Hogwarts next year. She is a total pain. It will be good to have her at Hogwarts, though. I miss her."

"She's a pain but you miss her?" That concept was baffling to Harry.

Daphne went to answer, then winced. She thought for a few seconds, before answering very carefully, "It's a sibling thing. A family thing. Sorry, Harry, I didn't mean to turn the conversation this way."

It was a sibling thing. Something Harry couldn't understand. A family thing. Something Harry barely had any idea about.

Harry couldn't understand, because he didn't have a family. Harry felt that old pain, that had been with him as long as he could remember, flair up again. But he smiled through it; it wouldn't be fair to the others if they couldn't talk about their families just because he was there, "It's Ok Daph. You have every right to talk about your family. Maybe you could introduce her to us in September," Harry indicated himself and Hermione.

"Sure. I'm warning you though, she may not be as bad as that Creevey boy with the camera, but she will fangirl a little. She loves celebrities," Daphne smiled at him.

Harry tried to hide his grimace, but wasn't successful, "Thanks for the heads up."

Tracy, who had been doodling while she waited for Harry to finish with the Rune layout, then piped up, "What is it with you and not liking your fame, Harry? Most people would milk it for all its worth."

Harry sighed, "But most people are famous for something they did. Good the Slytherin, who was quickly becoming one of his closest friends.

-ϟϟϟ-

Harry was sat in one of the greenhouses, holding a bit of ice to his lip. Neville had asked him to help re-pot a cutting from the whomping willow. The cutting was apparently from last year, when the tree had been injured after Harry and Ron had accidentally flown Mr Weasley's car into it.

One of the branches was too damaged to reattach to the tree, so Profed, or bad, they did it. Meanwhile, I'm famous for having murdered parents. Every time someone brings up my fame, to me, it's just a reminder that I didn't get to grow up with my parents," The silence hung in the air, and Hermione pulled him against her in a hug.

Tracy took his hand, offering what little comfort she could, "I'm sorry Harry. I should have known. It's so obvious, in hindsight."

"It's fine, Tracy, I know you didn't mean anything by it," Harry assuressor Sprout had tried to keep it alive as a cutting. The thick lip it had just given him was a testament to her success. With her care, and Neville's assistance, the cutting was doing so well that a year on, it needed a larger pot.

As Professor Sprout had her hands full, she had asked Neville to take care of it. The only thing was, Neville needed a second pair of hands to help. He had asked Harry, who had been only too happy to help. He knew that Neville partly blamed him for what had happened to his parents, and probably held some degree of resentment towards him because of that.

If Harry was honest with himself, he felt he was partly to blame as well. He jumped at the chance to do anything he could to help the shy Gryffindor, who didn't tend to ask him, or anybody really, for help when it came to Herbology.

The problem was that the cutting seemed to remember Harry, and it didn't like him.

Scrap that; it hated him. So much so, that as Harry and Neville tried to re-pot the willow, it kept trying to hit and strangle Harry, more than what it usually did to people.

Despite this, the two Gryffindors had been able to re-pot the damn plant. Neville had come out completely fine, but Harry had quite a few bruises and a split lip. Neville came back over from putting the willow back in its regular spot in the greenhouse, "Sorry again, Harry, it's not normally like that with people. I mean...it's a whopping willow; it normally tends to attack people, but it went absolutely nuts trying to get at you."

"I think it remembers me, from when Ron and I crashed into it at the start of our second year," Harry joked as he wiped the next bit of blood that was dribbling down his chin.

"I don't think whomping willows have memory, Harry," Neville said, before getting a speculative look as he thought of something, "Though...I suppose it's possible. They _do _sense magical beings, that's how they know where to hit. It's entirely possible that they keep track of magic signatures that are present when they suffer damage," Neville hypothesised, "That's actually a really good idea, Harry," He sounded rather excited by the idea.

"Uh, I was just joking Neville. I don't have a clue about this stuff. Plants are your thing, not mine," Harry replaced the ice on his lip once he finished talking, hoping that it would take the swelling down a little.

Whomping willows hit damn hard.

"Even so, it's a good idea. I'll definitely look into it. Whomping willows are rare enough that few wizards or witches with the right knowledge ever get a chance to study them. And, the ones that do get the opportunity often give up quickly. Mostly because they run out of Skele Gro," Neville joked to Harry, who laughed for a few seconds, but stopped when his lip began throbbing in pain from the movement.

He thought for a few seconds before saying, "If you need any help, just say so, and I'll make time," He thought about everything Neville had lost because of him. This was really the least he could do.

"Thanks Harry. Given that we don't want to hurt the willows again, your help would be really useful."

The two of them cleaned up before heading back to the castle. As Harry's lip hadn't stopped bleeding, he headed up to the hospital wing so that Madam Pomfrey could take a look at it, while Neville went back to the common room.

-ϟϟϟ-

It was Sunday and Harry and Hermione, like during most Sundays, were in the library. They weren't, however, doing homework or revision. They made sure they got those out of the way on Saturdays.

Sundays were spent going over wizarding law books. The subject as a whole was both fascinating and disturbing.

For example, Wizarding Britain didn't even exist legally. Instead, there were the _Houses_.

The House of Bones, the House of Weasley, the House of Malfoy, along with others. Wizarding Britain was technically just a collection of tribes, or perhaps, as they were in Scotland, 'clans' would be a better term, thought Harry.

Each house was legally its own nation. Even if they didn't have land and borders, they were free to make their own rules and laws, as long as they didn't affect anyone outside of their house.

According to Hermione, that was how Britain used to be before the country was united. There were still reminders of that system in non-magical Britain. The Houses of Lancaster and York, for example, had large regions of the country named after them, and the House of Windsor was the current royal family.

The Wizengamot was not, like Harry and Hermione had assumed, a government, not really.

It was more like a miniature United Nations. The most prominent Warlocks, the head of a House, were invited to sit on the Wizengamot. It was true that over time the reach of the Wizengamot had grown, and a few laws were passed that were above House law, such as the Statute of Secrecy, which was mandated by the international Confederation of Wix (that had changed its name from the International Confederation of Wizards about seven years ago).

There were also some crimes that were always dealt with by the Ministry and brought to the Wizengamot for trial, such as murder, and the use of something called unforgivable curses. The Wizengamot mostly left internal House matters to be dealt with by the House Warlock, only getting involved when an incident involved more than one House.

For anything else, you needed a House Warlock, or their appointed representative, to take the matter to the Wizengamot before they could get involved. It appeared that that was the reason as to why discrimination against muggle-borns was so widespread, despite it being 'illegal'. The muggle-born Wix, not being from one of the many recognised Houses, had no-one of legal standing to bring a case before the Wizengamot.

Harry was a little surprised to find that Potter was one of the recognised Houses, but as he was the only member left, it didn't mean much for him. His House wasn't likely to gain the influence needed to be invited to sit on the Wizengamot in his lifetime, and there wouldn't be any other members of the House of Potter for there to be internal conflicts with, at least until he got married.

Buckbeak's case, however, was their main focus. The problem was that the wording of the law was so open-ended that, from what Harry and Hermione (if Harry was honest it was mostly Hermione; he'd be damned to try and figure out this old text) could figure out, a person could claim an animal was dangerous and destroy it if someone sneezed in the presence of the animal and decided to blame it on the poor creature.

On an academic level, Harry could understand it; you didn't want a genuinely dangerous creature on the loose because of a technicality or legal loophole from an overly specific law.

But it really sucked for Buckbeak. It may have been Malfoy's own stupid fault, but Beaky had _intentionally _injured him. That it was only a scratch didn't matter as far as the law was concerned.

As it stood, the law was clearly on Malfoy's side. The only real chance to save Buckbeak at this point was if the Ministry had a sudden change of heart. And as the Malfoys were a rich, influential family, the likelihood of the Ministry siding against them was slim enough that the average sheet of parchment was thicker.

-ϟϟϟ-

Harry was still a little upset with the Weasley twins.

They may not have pushed Harry to dose Hermione with a potion along with everyone else, and if Harry was honest, if he had told Hermione beforehand, there was a good chance she would have actually agreed to it.

But, he still felt that the twins needed some payback for their part in what had been the largest fight he had ever had with his girlfriend.s

He had been trying to come up with something worthy of pranking those two ever since, and had finally found something that he thought would work. Determined to not make the same mistake as last time, he showed Hermione what he'd found while they sat in front of the fire in the common room.

"Here it is, the 'Notice Me potion'; originally brewed as a cure for the 'Notice Me Not' potion. The 'Notice Me' potion will make people pay attention to the drinker," Harry read from the potion book he was showing his girlfriend and prospective partner in crime.

"So, you want to prank the twins for causing our fight? You blame the _twins_?" There was a slight edge to her voice that indicated to Harry that he was heading to troubled waters.

"No, I blame myself. It was my plan that was at fault," Hermione's expression softened but Harry could tell she still wanted a further explanation, "But, it wouldn't have happened if not for the twins, and anyway, it's about time they have a taste of being on the other end of the prank for once."

"Ok, and why are you telling me about this?" Hermione asked.

"Two reasons. First, I'm not risking the same mistake ever again; I am going to at least tell you about any pranks I pull, not that I plan to pull many, so that if you do somehow get caught up in them, it won't be like last time. The second reason is, I was hoping to pick that big and amazingly beautiful brain of yours," even Harry could see that he was laying the compliments on thick, and he complimented Hermione at least a couple of times every day, "I want to make sure this will do what I intend it to, and maybe get some help with the brewing."

Hermione looked at him for a few moments before saying, "Sure, I guess I'll help. But just this once; I'm not really into pranks. Before I came to Hogwarts, the kids I was at school with would pull 'pranks' on me, like putting an open bottle of water in my school bag so that when I picked it up the water would spill and ruin my books. Most 'pranks', as far as I can tell, are just bullying," there was a certain bitterness in her voice that made Harry pull her into a hug.

"I'm sorry Mione. I didn't mean to make you think I was like them."

Hermione leaned into his hug. "You didn't Harry. Your prank was a real prank. People who were affected were laughing and nobody was hurt or singled out. I didn't like being slipped a potion, but I never thought you were like them."

Hermione was quiet for a few moments as she moved to get more comfortable, "However, the twins go too far sometimes. They make people into a spectacle to be laughed at. So what are you hoping this potion will do to them?"

"Well...they are always sneaking around to pull pranks, right?" Hermione nodded so Harry continued, "So, I was hoping that the potion will get them caught. Every time they try something, I want someone to catch them in the act," Harry explained.

He knew that a prank like this would appeal to Hermione's sense of justice. The twins would experience nothing but the consequences of their actions. That is, if he understood the potion correctly.

Hermione pulled the book over to her and read, then re-read, the description of the effects, before she moved on to dissecting the recipe, "I think you are right about what the potion would do, and the ingredients are easy enough. Most are in our potion kits, and the rest are in the students' store cupboard. The brewing time of eighteen hours is a bit of a hassle, but not unworkable. How do you intend to get them to drink it though? The twins are always really careful with what they drink."

Fred and George tended not to drink from the cups like the other students, often an indicator as to whether the drink was laced with something. Harry presumed that they also were careful so that people trying to get revenge on them for pranks wouldn't be able to spike their drinks. If you go around spiking drinks all the time you are probably very aware of how easy it is for someone to do the same to you.

"I've been thinking about that, and I think there is an opportunity during Quidditch practice; their drinks bottles that they use. I was hoping you could use the cloak and add it while we are distracted in the air." Harry hoped that she would be agreeable to that.

"That could work," she nodded before she changed the subject, "Enough about pranks; how are you going on with your Runes project?"

Harry winced, "Not great. I'm starting to think it's unusable. The summoning works, but the charm on the wand is attracted to runes on the paper around my wrist. I end up with the wand dangling from my wrist, and having to take time to fix it. It's completely ineffective and useless in a duel."

Hermione thought for a minute, "Have you tried putting the runes somewhere other than a bracelet? Maybe if they were in a ring?"

Harry considered it, "Maybe; doing the runes on something that small would be awkward, but it's worth giving a try. Maybe, if I also took the charm off the string and attached it right to the bottom of the wand, that could work?" Harry was talking more to himself now.

Hermione, seeing that he was caught up in his musings now, pulled the potion book back to herself, snuggled into Harry, and began looking to see if the book had any other potions that caught her interest.

_**-ϟϟϟ-**_

Getting the ingredients for the potion was child's play, but working out where and when to brew the potion had been harder. In the end the duo had decided to co-opt their date night and use the Room of Requirement.

Using the Friday night had a number of advantages, not least of which was that without class the next day, the pair of them could stay in the Room of Requirement overnight to tend the potion for the eighteen hours it took to brew.

Harry had been a little surprised when the suite Hermione set up only had four rooms when he'd been expecting five. There was, of course, their regular room to relax in, the one with a sofa, fire and dining table.

Then there was a small potions lab that had most types of equipment in it, even though they had brought their own. There was a bathroom as well, as they couldn't leave the room after curfew without risking being found out of bed by Filch or one of the teachers.

The last room was the bedroom.

With one bed.

Harry had no problem sharing a bed with Hermione; it wasn't the first time, and it was probably going to be more and more common in the years to come. Harry had even had a few thoughts that maybe he and Hermione would get married one day.

This, however, would be the first time sharing because they just wanted to. Every time before had been the result of being in the hospital wing or Hermione having a night terror. Harry hadn't expected Hermione to go with a one-bed option.

The two of them spent their time split between the potions lab and the sofa reading another wizarding fiction. Hermione had found a book that was a fictional account of an apprentice to Merlin and the weird things he got up to while trying to learn magic.

The next morning, Harry woke early as his pillow vibrated, pulling him from the best and worst nights' sleep he'd had in months.

It was the worst nights' sleep because he and Hermione had to get up three times each to go and tend the potion, which was the reason he was up so early, as he needed to go and stir the cauldron.

The reason it was the best nights' sleep was because Hermione was curled up next to him. Something about having her so close made it so easy for him to sleep well.

He untangled his legs from hers, a little embarrassed that she was pressed against his _growing problem_, and crept out of the bedroom and into the potion lab.

He checked the potion against the description the book said it should have at this point, and was happy that everything was on track.

He picked up the glass stirring rod and began to stir; first, three stirs counter-clockwise, then five clockwise, followed by seven more counter-clockwise. The pale milky coloured potion instantly turned a bright shade of orange, exactly like the book said it would. Potions seemed to be a lot easier when Snape wasn't around constantly berating him.

Harry adjusted the flames under the cauldron, turning down the heat. All the potion needed now was to simmer for two to three hours until it turned bright yellow with a golden glow.

That left Harry with two options. He could call Dobby and arrange some breakfast for him and Hermione; he really needed to do something for the elf who always went out of his way to help Harry.

Or, he could climb back into bed for a few hours.

The call of the bed proved to be too strong to ignore. Not only because of the broken sleep he'd had last night, but also, he would be able to be with Hermione as she snuggled back into him.

She was a real cuddle monster and he absolutely loved it.

He recast the charm to make his pillow vibrate in an hour and forty-five minutes, before climbing back into the king-sized bed next to Hermione. As he predicted, she almost immediately wrapped herself around him, pulling him back to a pleasant slumber.

-ϟϟϟ-

It was coming up to lunchtime, so Harry and Hermione decided that it was time to leave the Room of Requirement and join the rest of the school.

Hermione was a little worried that someone had noticed their absence from their beds and told Professor McGonagall, but as she looked at Harry while they walked down the stairs, she thought that even if Professor McGonagall gave them detention in the forest again, like in their first year, it would definitely be worth it.

And that had nothing to do with the six vials of Notice Me potion that were currently in her bag.

They were halfway across the entrance hall heading to the Great Hall, when they were interrupted by a shout, "Oi Potter!"

The two of them looked around and found Draco Malfoy and a man who Hermione remembered from his fight with Mr. Weasley in Diagon Alley over a year ago.

Draco's father, Mr, or Warlock, Malfoy.

"My father just got my Quidditch ban overturned, what do you think about that?" Draco had that smug look on his face that he wore whenever he thought he had won something, which was far too frequently for Harry's liking.

"Honestly, I'm relieved; if you're back on the team, then I don't have to worry about Slytherin finding someone with _talent_," Harry responded. Draco's face turned red with rage but his father remained impassive, "You do remember you had to get your father to bribe your way onto the team in the first place, right?" A few of the students who had stopped to watch sniggered quietly, even a couple of Slytherins had found that funny.

"Just because my father can afford to buy brooms for my team didn't mean I bribed my way on to the team. My family just recognised that Slytherin deserves the best," Draco was getting himself so worked up that his father stepped in, placing a firm hand on Draco's shoulder, silently telling him to let him deal with it, "So, Mr Potter; you say you are a better seeker than my son. Yet...I just saw the Quidditch Cup in the Slytherin Head's office, so obviously, you aren't doing that well, which is to be expected, considering most of the brooms you fly are more fit for sweeping floors than the noble sport of quidditch" Warlock Malfoy was calm and condescending as he spoke, his words returning the smug look to Draco's face.

"If you remember, I was recovering in the hospital wing at the end of last year, after I had to deal with the massive snake _someone_ arranged to be released into the school. So we played our last game without a seeker. However, if I also recall, last year's Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match was a _Gryffindor _victory, after I beat Draco to the snitch, despite him having a broom advantage, a feat I am more than confident I can repeat," Harry argued back just as calmly.

"We shall see about that, Mr Potter," And with that chilling statement, the elder Malfoy walked past Harry and Hermione. Draco, meanwhile, had disappeared into the Great Hall.

"Well, that was ominous," Hermione said as she watched Mr Malfoy walk off.

"Doesn't matter; unless he's going to pay someone to catch the snitch for him, Malfoy doesn't stand a chance," Harry looked confident, but Hermione knew him well enough to know that he was only saying that out loud in front of the other students.

Harry wasn't sure what the elder Malfoy had in mind, but he was most definitely worried about it. Hermione just hoped it was Quidditch related, and not an attempt to keep Harry from playing some other way.

-ϟϟϟ-

Harry was making his way to the whomping willow to meet with Neville. The green-fingered Gryffindor had asked Harry to meet him there after class so that they could see if there was anything to the theory that whomping willows had some sort of memory for the magical signatures around when they were damaged.

Harry thought it was a longshot. He had only said it as a joke to explain his bad luck with the cutting, but Neville seemed to think the idea had genuine merit and when it came to plants, Harry was more than willing to let Neville take the lead. Magical plants are very dangerous and Harry has no experience with them outside basic Herbology, whereas this is actually Neville's passion

He arrived at the willow but stood way back as he didn't see Neville anywhere around. He cast a few warming charms and sat on a rock a good twenty feet from the tree, well out of the reach of its branches. He had seen what they could do to a car, let alone something as soft and squishy as him.

It took Neville about ten minutes to turn up, and he wasn't alone. He had a few other people with him. There was Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones, both from Hufflepuff, and Demelza Robins, a Gryffindor from the year below Harry and Neville.

Harry stood up and nodded to the group as they approached.

"Sorry I'm late Harry. On the way down I realized that we need more of a test than just me and you, so I asked Hannah and Susan along. Demelza overheard and wanted to help; apparently, she likes Herbology as much as I do," Neville explained.

"No worries, the weather is dry and I wasn't waiting too long," Harry wasn't worried about a few minutes of doing nothing.

"OK everyone, while Harry and I were repotting a cutting from this tree the other day, Harry had an idea. He was joking, but I think he might be right. Harry observed that the cutting was attacking him more than me and wondered if the tree could remember him from when he'd injured it when he and Ron Weasley flew a car into it at the beginning of the last school year. So I got a few tests in mind to see if this could be true..."

Neville went on for a few minutes as he explained the tests he wanted to do and the importance of not getting too close to the tree, unless they wanted to spend the next few days sampling Madam Pomfrey's bedside manners.

The tests were relatively simple. First, each of them approached slowly and stopped as soon as the tree started to react to them being there. Neville wanted to see how far the tree could sense and if it was the same distance for all of them.

The results of that test were...interesting, to put it bluntly.

For the other four, there was a difference between them, but it was only about 8 inches between Demelza, who got the nearest, and Susan who was the furthest.

Well, the furthest apart from Harry, who was a good foot and a half further back when the willow started reaching out to attack him.

Neville's next test involved each of them standing on their line one at a time while they watched to see how much the tree reacted to their presence. He wanted to see if any of them got a more energetic reaction than others.

This test was inconclusive. The willow didn't appear to be trying to whomp anyone any more than another.

It was the last, and main, tests that were the most interesting. First, Neville had two of them approach the tree from different sides to see if there was a preferred target.

For most pairs, it was a wash, the tree just seemed to want to squash them both.

Unless, that is, one of the people in the pair was Harry. No matter who was partners with Harry for the test, the tree definitely wanted to squash him more. There were even a few close calls, and Harry was very glad of his ever-needed reflexes.

They repeated the experiment with groups of three and four, but each time the result was the same. While the willow swung at them all, it always put the bulk of its efforts into trying to attack Harry.

Even when they grouped three of them on one side of the tree and Harry on the other, the swinging branches were mostly focused on him. The tree really seemed to have it in for Harry.

Neville, of course, found the results fascinating. He kept scribbling note after note on bits of parchment he pulled out of his robe pocket. Once it became clear that all the tests were done for the day, the three girls went back to the castle to get ready for dinner. Harry, however, stayed with Neville as he went over his notes.

"Do you realize how big this could be, Harry, if whomping willows have memory? It definitely looks like they might. This could lead to a whole new set of charms for dealing with them. Imagine if you could use a charm to get a whomper to see you as a friend," He was obviously excited by the possibility.

"That could be cool, maybe you could get it to remember not to attack certain people, so you could set one as a guardian somewhere," Harry thought that could be useful.

"Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done to prove this idea. It looks promising; the whomping willow is definitely targeting you, which could be because it remembers you, or it could just be something about you that whomping willows don't like. It's definitely enough evidence to justify talking to Professor Sprout about a special project," Neville continued,

"I wonder who we could have on the team. Me and you, of course. We should probably at least try to rope in Ron, as we need a more statistically relevant sample size. Not that two is really enough, we really need ten or so, and more willows, but we just don't have the resources. Maybe we can get a private owner to let us test theirs?" Neville went on like that for about five minutes while Harry listened.

"If it's anything like my Runes project, then I doubt we'll have enough time left to do it this year. The school year is already half gone," Harry thought about the setbacks he's had so far, and wondered just how likely it was that a project like the one Neville was planning would run smoothly.

"If a project like this is big enough, you can do it for a few years. At least that's what I heard. I wanted to do a personal project with Herbology this year, but I couldn't think of one, so I ended up taking divination instead," Neville didn't sound too happy about taking Divination, and Harry could definitely see why.

"Is Trelawney still predicting your death every lesson?"

"Our deaths. Mine and yours. She is still predicting our deaths in every lesson. It's getting tiring, and it's not like she is predicting anything, she's just read the Prophet and knows LeStrange is on the loose. It's really annoying having to deal with her all the time."

Harry was just looking through the notes that Neville had written when he heard a familiar voice behind him, "Well, isn't this a lovely sight! Little baby Potter and little baby Longbottom. Looks like I will get to finish up two loose ends before I deal with that fucking cat bitch."

Harry spun around, and there, right behind him, with half her hair burned off and her face all charred down the left side, stood Bellatrix LeStrange.

**Author's Notes:**

Dun dun DUN!

**Note from Matty (the beta): **Hi everyone. I don't do the Author's Notes (cause i ain't the author), but I just wanted to apologise to you all for taking so long with this chapter. Lowten (the author) has several more chapters already written but I've been seriously lagging behind with my betaring. Another beta has joined us (Welcome Phineas Garcia-Shapiro Flynn)

so hopefully updates will be a lot more consistent, and I want to thank you all for your continued and patient support of this brilliant story.

**Further Author's Notes:**

Phineas Garcia-Shapiro Flynn welcome to the team Phineas had beta'ed the spell really quickly after joining us but then Matty jumped back on and gave the chapter a once over as well so that pushed my reposting back a few days.

Also special thanks to purple element I will be using the info in your review to try and create a macro to help with my consistent problems


	36. Chapter 36 - round two

What's this two wednesday updates in a row? I need to thank both my beta's Mattyscic (fanfiction name) and my new beta, Phineas Garcia-Shapiro Flynn (fanfiction name). Phineas joined my little team and has been a big help. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far, i looked at the stats of this story a few days ago and was shocked to see that over 500 of you are following this story which I find amazing considering this is my first fic and I struggle with dyslexia. I can only assume that its the people who beta for me that allowed this to be possible. I also want to thank purple element who gave me a review with a number of my consistent spelling errors, because when i spell a word wrong i spell it the same way each time with such information i am going to try and wright a macro that will automatically update those words and it will save me and my betas some time and effort so purple element thankyou.

I love reading your reviews even if it's small and constructive criticism is always useful so drop a few words in to the comment section

**Chapter 36 round two!**

Harry was just looking through the notes that Neville had written when he heard a familiar voice behind him, "Well, isn't this a lovely sight! Little baby Potter and little baby Longbottom. Looks like I will get to finish up two loose ends before I deal with that fucking cat bitch."

Harry and Neville spun to see who it was, though they already knew from the voice, and the blood drained from their faces as they set their sights upon her.

Stood about twenty feet from them, her near skeletally thin form clothed in what looked were random pieces of clothing, which appeared as though they had been stolen from a washing line, was Bellatrix LeStrange.

The clothes she was wearing hung off her disgustingly thin frame. Her hair was patchy and the left side of her face was heavily scared a result of the fire Harry had used against her, and it seemed that her injuries had not received proper medical attention. Going right through the burn scar on her face was a second scar, one from a deep cut; the result of Hermione's severing charm.

"Now I'm going to pay you back for what you and that stray cat of yours did to my face, Potter, then, I'm going to finish what I started with the Longbottoms all those years ago," A manic grin spread over her face, distorted by her burn scars into something truly horrific.

She leveled her wand at Harry, "_Incendio!_" and flames sprang forth from her wand, engulfing the space Harry had occupied only a moment before. As he rolled from his dive, Harry tried to draw his wand, finding it difficult as the ground knocked his arms as he rolled.

"Stupid brat, stay _still_. _Aculeus...Aculeus!" _She fired two stinging hexes at Harry, the first missing, but the second catching him in his side just below his ribs. The hex hurt, but didn't do any real damage, nor did it slow Harry's roll.

"Ex-exspellbyaris," Neville tried to cast the disarming spell, but miscast due to the panicked state he was in. However, it was enough to get LeStrange to turn her attention to Neville for about a second.

In that second, Harry was back on his feet and had his wand in hand, "_Expelliarmus,_" Harry's disarming charm was cast perfectly and the red light shot from his wand towards the woman who was about to point her wand at Neville.

"_Protego,_" Bellatrix was nonchalant as she flicked her wand, and Harry's spell hit an invisible barrier in front of the witch he was hoping to hit, "Oh, is baby Potter ready to play? No armour for you to hide behind this time."

"_Incendio,_" Harry sent a jet of flame at the crazed convict. Just like in their last fight, she countered Harry with a simple but effective flame freezing charm, "You dirty son of a _mudblood_, you dare to try this again on me!?"

The anger in her voice was evident and Harry caught sight of Neville in the corner of his eye flinching back from her. Harry, however, was focusing on the look on LeStrange's face. Her eyes were darting around looking at the flames that surrounded her. Her breathing had become more rapid and she appeared to be cowering from the flames.

It took a few seconds but then realization struck him. LeStrange was _afraid_. The way her eyes kept darting around at the flames. It was the same look he had seen in Hermione for a while after Halloween, constantly aware of any fire around them: candles, the burners in the potions classroom, the large fires that heated the common room. Hermione had also probably seen the same look in him.

Harry understood why LeStrange was afraid. He also had an inclination to stay away from fire.

Fire hurt. Harry had had a distinct taste of that pain thanks to the woman in front of him. And after remembering the sheer pain he went through after being burnt by fire, he would like to avoid it again if possible.

He wondered if it had been worse for LeStrange. While his burns had been more severe, he'd been given pain potions, burn paste and good medical care. He seriously doubted that the woman in front of him, dressed in stolen clothes and known everywhere as a criminal, had had anywhere near adequate care for her injuries.

Not that he had any sympathy for her. This was the psychopathic bitch who had hurt Hermione. She had burned her for no reason. Hermione had been bound and helpless, and the bitch who had violated the first place he ever felt at home, hurt Hermione for no reason.

As Harry thought about what Bellatrix had done to Hermione his emotions shifted.

No longer was he cautious and afraid. Now, he was just angry.

Without any conscious reason on Harry's part, the inferno that he was producing increased in intensity. Not that it did much, as the flame freezing charm was more than a match for the fire.

Neville, who had been looking around panicked, started trying to disarm Bellatrix. However, his attempts were less than effective. He did manage to cast the spell once, but it was too weak to break the iron grip LeStrange had on her wand.

Without Hermione here to help, it looked like he and Bellatrix would be stuck in a stalemate until one of them got too tired to continue. And as Harry's spell took more magic to sustain, and Harry was fighting an adult witch with more experience, Harry didn't hold much hope that she would tire first.

Then, something happened that Harry hadn't expected. Apparently tired of not being able to cast a spell, Neville took a different approach.

He picked up a loose rock from the floor and threw it as hard as he could at LeStrange. His aim wasn't the best, only hitting her leg, but her scream of pain could be heard over the flames. It was soon followed by a murderous tirade from the witch, "Son of a bitch! I'll kill you for that! Throwing rocks like a filthy muggle! I'll kill you, I'll make you _beg_, and then I'll kill you!"

Neville's response to the threats was to throw another rock. This one missed, but as a result of Bellatrix dodging rather than Neville's aim. Seeing Neville pick up yet another rock, Bellatrix ran, sustaining her flame freezing spell, until she dropped behind the same rock Harry had sat on earlier while he'd waited for Neville to arrive.

Now that Bellatrix had a rock to hide behind, and didn't have to hold a flame freezing charm, it was a completely different fight. Before, Bellatrix had been happy to let him wear himself out, now she was shooting spell after spell at the two of them. Harry stopped the fire spell; with a rock in the way, it was just a waste of his magic.

Harry was able to avoid the plethora of spells coming his way, as firing from behind a rock had hurt LeStrange's aim so much that the reflexes Harry had practiced to dodge bludgers were enough to keep him standing. Neville, however, was not as practiced at evading anything as Harry, and collapsed after being hit with a red spell that Harry didn't recognize.

"Neville!" Harry wanted to run over and check that he was going to be OK, but he had to focus on evading the spells coming at him.

"You're all alone now, Potter," LeStrange called from behind the rock, her voice full of crazy laughter, "First, I will deal with you, then I'll put the last Longbottom in a bed next to his parents, before I go and find that mangy kitten who scratched me. It will be interesting to see how much she can take before she breaks."

That was too much for Harry. The threat against him was nothing, the threat against Neville made him angry. But it was the threat against Hermione that made Harry lose it.

"_Wingardium leviosa,_" he lifted up the rock that LeStrange was hiding behind a few inches and then sent it tumbling towards her.

"What?" Bellatrix felt the rock move and then let out a string of profanity as she dove out of the way. Before Bellatrix could get her wand pointed at Harry again, he started unleashing a string of spells at the exposed duelist, "_Diffindo_! _Diffindo_!"

Harry walked towards LaStrange as he kept hitting her with spells. She screamed in pain, but Harry had learned his lesson last time as to what would happen if he showed Bellatrix mercy.

He wouldn't let this piece of Death Eater scum anywhere near Hermione again.

He was standing over Bellatrix now, and she was bleeding from about half a dozen cuts he had caused.

"_Incendio,_" Bellatrix screamed as Harry's spell hit her again, Harry himself unconsciously dodging out of the way. A small part of him wanted to let up, to stop hurting her, but another part of him, the part that wanted to protect the people he cared about, was telling him to keep going.

Harry's world suddenly filled with pain. He dropped his wand as his legs refused to support his weight anymore.

LeStrange, the pureblood witch who taunted Neville for fighting muggle, had kicked him right in the balls.

Before Harry could even consider getting back to his feet and defending himself, Bellatrix sent his wand flying across the school grounds, so far away that Harry had no hope of retrieving it. Then, just as Harry started to focus through the pain, Bellatrix flicked her wand, and suddenly he was hanging upside down by his right ankle.

Bellatrix stood over Harry, just out of reach, even if he flailed wildly, with a glowing look on her face. Harry mentally cursed himself that his summoning project wasn't ready yet. Right now he just wanted to summon his wand and wipe the smug expression off her face.

"Now...how should I do this?" Bellatrix mused to herself as she eyed the upside-down Harry, "Oh, I know! _Serpensortia!_" Just like Malfoy had done in the dueling club last year, LeStrange conjured a snake to attack him, only the snake she was able to produce was a _lot _bigger than the one Draco called. This one was more like the one he had seen at the zoo that one time on Dudley's birthday.

"Get him. Bite him. Eat him. Let the boy who defied the Dark Lord, the heir of Slytherin himself, die by the crest of House Slytherin," Her voice was full of malice as she held one of her cuts closed. She then pointed her wand at it and said, "_Episkey_", and even though she winced in pain as the cut mended, her eyes never left Harry and the snake that was making its way to him.

"_No, you want to bite her, she will only kill you after you attack me,"_ Harry reasoned with the snake, who he hoped was not unreasonable.

"Oh, that won't work baby Potter; Parseltongue is an inherent talent. You either have it or you don't," Bellatrix mocked Harry, thinking he was just making hissing sounds at the snake.

Her facial expression changed to one of surprise though when the snake stopped and turned from Harry, "What!? But _how_...how can _you _have Salazar's gift? The hereditary power of my lord's family? AHHHHH!" Her tirade was cut off by her scream of pain. She had been so focused on Harry, she hadn't paid attention to the snake until its fangs were embedded in the muscles of her thigh.

_"Vipera Evanesca," _LaStrange vanished the snake that still had her thigh in its mouth. She turned back to Harry, fiercely staring at him with a mixture of disgust and venom in her eyes, "You'll pay for that. _Diffindo,_" Harry closed his eyes, expecting pain as soon as the cutting spell tore open his flesh, yet he just felt surprisingly cold as bits of cloth began to rain around his head.

Bellatrix had targeted his clothes rather than him, leaving only Harry's socks, shoes and boxers. More muttered words from LeStrange, and a flick of her wand, and ropes sprung forth from the ground and wrapped themselves around Harry's arms, pulling them towards the ground.

Fear flooded through Harry; he was trapped at the mercy of this crazy bitch who wanted to hurt and kill him, and once she was done with him, she was going to do the same to Neville and Hermione.

"How should I deal with the brat who lived too long? Tell me Potter; did you know that my Dark Lord has a symbol? We loyal Death Eaters cast his mark on the sky whenever we kill for him. How do you think the prophet will react when your body is found with the dark mark carved into your skin?" Bellatrix taunted him. "What, no words? That's OK; I wonder if you will scream this time."

Harry was too afraid to respond to LeStrange's little speech. Instead, he watched as she ignited the tip of her wand with light, only, it wasn't the Lumos spell.

The light was a lot dimmer for a start, and different to the white light that was produced by the first-year charm, the light cast from the spell Bellatrix used was orange with wisps of black smoke curling up from it.

"Since you are a Parselmouth; let's start with the snake," LeStrange was grinning like, well, a madwoman as she brought the tip of her wand onto Harry's chest, and she began to burn the image of a snake into his skin.

The pain was almost as bad as the spell she'd used last time.

Harry didn't know how long he was there while she sketched out the snake with her ignited wand. He knew it wasn't a short time; she was taking her time, treating it as a work of art. That combined with the blood rushing to his head was enough that he eventually started to whimper in pain.

"Oh! Has baby Potter had enough? Do you want me to end it? I'm almost done with the snake, Potter; it won't be long until I start on the rest of the symbol. Then I'll end it for you. All the pain will be gone, won't that be nice?"

Then Harry heard something he wasn't expecting at all.

"You will harm the Great Harry Potter no more!" Harry snapped his head up to look where the shout came from, just in time to see LeStrange dodge out of the way of a swiping set of talons.

When Harry thought of Dobby, he thought of the elf's weird speech patterns, of his weird ideas, and his love of work. One thing he never thought was that the little, adoring elf was a _warrior_.

Yet, as Dobby charged at LeStrange using Buckbeak as a powerful steed, throwing spell after spell at the demented psychopath, it was impossible to see the little elf as anything other than a warrior well practiced in the art of combat.

Buckbeak would swipe at Bellatrix with his claws and Dobby would throw handfuls of an unusual green, almost fluid-like, magic at her. Bellatrix was forced to duck, dodge and cast shield charms repeatedly as she avoided their attacks.

She wasn't completely successful, taking cuts from close calls with Buckbeak and a few burns on her arms from Dobby's strange magic splashing around her shields.

Harry was still held in LeStrange's spells, unable to do anything. He cursed that he hadn't found time to finish the Rune summoning. He was only able to watch as his two unlikely rescuers chased a retreating Bellatrix into the Forbidden Forest.

Then, he was alone with Neville, who had still not moved since he was hit with the unknown spell earlier, and Harry couldn't do anything to see if he was OK. The minutes began to drag on.

Then there was a voice calling for him, "Harry?"

It was Hermione; she was looking for him.

Harry debated internally for a few seconds whether to call back, as he didn't want her to see him in this humiliating position. But the fact that she would be able to check on Neville won out, "Over here Hermione! Come quickly, Neville needs help!"

Harry heard the sound of her feet as she moved across the ground towards him, then a gasp, and the sound of her moving stopped. It wasn't hard to work out that she had just seen him hanging in the air above a pile of torn fabric that was all that was left of his outer clothes.

Harry, though, wasted no time in relaying what had happened, "She hit Neville with some spell, he's not moving. You _need_ to check him."

"Who? Who hit him with a spell? And who did this to you?" Hermione was asking questions and not moving.

"It was Bellatrix LeStrange again. Now go help Neville!" Harry half-shouted at her.

"Oh right, sorry," He heard her start moving again, and a few seconds later, he could see her as she rushed over to their fellow Gryffindor. She began checking him, but as she was between Harry and Neville Harry couldn't see what was happening.

After a few minutes Hermione said, "He is just unconscious; I think he's been stunned. But I've never done the counter-curse before. I think it's better if I go get a teacher," She turned to look at Harry and froze.

This was her first time seeing what Bellatrix had done to him. She looked horrified by the sight of his chest.

"Oh, _Harry_," There were tears in her eyes.

"I'm fine, Mione, but could you try to get me down?"

Yes, his chest hurt like hell, but right now he just wanted to be let down from his suspended position in the air.

"Finite incantatem," Hermione tried the basic end spell charm. It worked on the ropes, but he was still hosted by his ankle, "I'm sorry Harry, the spell holding you up must need a specific counter spell. I'll need to get a teacher," With that, she turned and ran off back to the castle, once again leaving Harry alone, almost naked and suspended in the air by his ankle.

He wondered just how bad his chest looked for Hermione to not even comment on his lack of clothes.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry was in the hospital wing again after LeStrange's attack yesterday.

Madam Pomfrey had kept both him and Neville overnight; only, they weren't alone. Hermione, as had become almost a habit when one of them was in the hospital wing, was there with them and had adamantly refused to return to their common room.

Madam Longbottom, Neville's gran, was also there. She had come marching into the room about forty-five minutes after they had arrived yesterday and had remained there, also refusing to leave Neville's bedside for longer than to visit the bathroom.

Neville had been worried that his gran would be angry at him. But it was soon clear that despite her being as angry as Neville had ever seen her, she directed none of that anger towards Neville himself.

She even appeared to be proud of him.

Harry was mentally praising whatever deity had intervened on his behalf, so that none of her rage was directed his way either.

Rather, it was Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Minister Fudge, and LeStrange who were all in the firing line.

From listening to her epic rant the day before, she blamed Dumbledore and McGonagall for not doing more to protect the students, Fudge and the Ministry for not having caught LeStrange, and LeStrange for being a morally bankrupt, evil, sadistic, bitch.

The two witches had stayed with them the whole night, Madam Longbottom taking a spare bed while Hermione had remained in one of the chairs between Harry and Neville's beds, rather than taking a bed further from him.

The next day was a circus, with seven people crowding into the hospital wing with them. Madam Bones and Trainee Auror Tonks were there to talk to Harry and Neville and to take their official statements. Director Bones also wanted to look over the Aurors that were searching the area for LeStrange, but she was getting frustrated with their lack of results.

Professor McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore, as Headmaster and deputy Headmistress, wanted to know how Bellatrix had gotten into the castle twice now.

They also stood in as Harry's magical guardians as he spoke to the DMLE. Normally, for an interview in the school like this, they would represent Neville as well, but as his gran was here it was her responsibility.

The Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge was also there, along with his lime green bowler hat. He was accompanied by what Harry presumed was his secretary, a woman called Dolores Umbridge, who was wearing far too much pink to be normal.

Harry thought she looked like a toad, and he thought he heard Hermione mutter a word that sounded like 'insmoth', but he didn't know what it meant.

Fudge was worried about the fallout from people learning that he had failed to protect the Boy-Who-Lived from an escaped criminal.

Again.

With Madam Longbottom making it very clear what much she thought about his efforts, it didn't look like he was going to get his way.

The final person was Madam Pomfrey, who was just trying to keep everything calm so as to not too greatly disturb her patients.

"Ok Mr. Potter; can you tell me what happened yesterday in your own words?" Madam Bones asked, her blue Dictaquill scratching a record of her question onto parchment.

"Well, Neville Longbottom, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Demelza Robins, and I were all down by the school's whomping willow," Madam Bones took a subtle but sharp intake of breath when her niece was mentioned, "We were testing a theory of Neville's to see about using it as the base for a herbology project. The tests looked positive, so me and Neville were talking about taking the idea to Professor Sprout, while the girls wanted to clean up before dinner, so they left. I hung back to help Neville with his notes, then suddenly she was right behind us. I don't know where she came from. She wa-"

"Hem-hem," Fudge's secretary interrupted, "You didn't see her approaching at all? You didn't see anything to help us figure out how she got past the Dementors?" Her voice was sickly sweet and more than a tad condescending.

Harry thought for a few seconds before answering, "All I can say is that she didn't come from the castle, as Neville and I were looking that way," he replied, trying to remain polite.

There was something about the women he didn't like, and she kept staring at Hermione's ears and tail when she thought no one was looking.

"Can you please continue Mr. Potter?" Madam Bones maneuvered the interview back on track.

Harry went on to explain about the duel, how Neville had tried to help by hurling rocks at Bellatrix until she stunned him. Madam Longbottom sat up straighter in evident pride at Harry's description. Harry told them how he almost won, but how he then made a stupid mistake.

Fudge's assistant had a disbelieving look on her face but was silenced by Director Bones when she tried to interrupt. Harry then went on to explain how Bellatrix treated him after she had him restrained. Everyone gasped as he described her burning an image of a snake into his chest.

Director Bones asked to see it and take photos as evidence, but Madam Pomfrey stepped in and told her no. The snake was still there, under a layer of burn paste. As Harry's healer, she didn't want the paste removed for the next twenty-four hours at least. She did, however, provide a medical report for the DMLE's records.

LeStrange had apparently used a spell tainted with dark magic and it was hindering the healing process. According to Madam Pomfrey, it would take a couple of months of weekly treatments to remove as much of the scarring as possible, but it would never fully heal.

"So, Mr. Potter, you told us what happened to you, now what happened to LeStrange? Why did she leave without killing you?" Director Bones asked.

"A friend of mine, a house elf, turned up with one of the school's Hippogriffs. They chased her off into the forest," Harry explained. He was careful not to name Dobby, as the house elf fell under the same creature laws that governed Buckbeak, and Harry wasn't going to risk the ministry going after the little guy when Dobby had actually managed to save his life.

"What is it with the Hippogriffs at this school? First one savaged the Malfoy heir for no reason, and now one saves the Boy-Who-Lived from a convicted mass murderer," Minister Fudge commented, "Absolutely crazy."

"It's the same Hippogriff," Harry muttered quietly.

"Th-the _same _Hippogriff!? But _it_ was ordered to be destroyed!" The minister bellowed.

"There is an appeal scheduled for the end of _June_, Minister; the beast has a reprieve until then," Fudge's security informed him, though she evidently seemed just as infuriated about the creature's very existence as he was.

"Oh. An appeal. Uh...quite right. Sorry," The minister looked embarrassed at his outburst, "However, that the beast has attacked someone else, even someone like LeStrange, doesn't look good for the appeal."

Harry paled at that. Buckbeak's case wasn't good to begin with.

If the Minister of Magic was taking the view that Buckbeak protecting Harry was more evidence of a dangerous creature, then it was practically the final nail in the poor Hippogriff's coffin.

Hermione looked like she wanted to say something, but she held her tongue in the presence of the Minister.

"So LeStrange escaped into the forest?" Madam bones asked, to which Harry nodded, "Damn it! Tracking anything in that forest is almost impossible, and it's too dangerous for a grid search..."

After a few minutes of thinking to herself, she addressed the Headmaster and the Minister, "Headmaster, Minister, considering that LeStrange has targeted Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom twice now, I would like permission to station an auror at the school. We need someone here if she tries again."

Dumbledore replied genially, although his tone didn't quite reach his eyes, "I have no issue with having an Auror or two stationed at the school on a _temporary basis_. However, I want it made clear to them that they have no role in regards to the students. Unless there is a student in immediate danger, then they are to only report things to the staff. The last thing we need is for the students to assume they're in imminent danger because of an auror who wouldn't keep quiet," His eyes flicked over to Tonks, who had turned slightly red.

The way Dumbledore said "temporary basis" made it clear that he wouldn't allow it for too long. Madam Bones nodded agreeably, and Dumbledore continued, "I also want to have a veto over who is stationed here."

Fudge didn't appear to like that specific condition. "I say Dumbledore, you don't have any say in the Ministry. It's not for the Chief Warlock to decide who is sent where. The allocation of staff is purely under the authority of the Ministry, not the Wizengamot," Fudge was on his feet now, the green bowler hat previously in his hands now quite forgotten on the floor.

"Quite right, Cornelius, quite right. It is, however, my place in my role as Headmaster of Hogwarts, not as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, that I am acting. It is my responsibility to consider how adults _invited_ into this school will affect the developing minds of the students within the grounds," He turned to Madam Bones, "No offence, Madam Bones, but some of the Aurors at the DMLE are just not suitable for working around children."

Madam Longbottom snorted something that sounded like 'Mad-Eye', as Dumbledore paused before continuing, "And speaking of things that are unsuitable to be around children, considering you have taken to ignoring my letters on the subject, I will take this opportunity to say it again; I want you to remove the Dementors from my school."

"We already had a hearing about this on the first of September, Dumbledore. You delayed the students returning to school for a day because of it, something no head of the school has done for over two centuries. Things were settled then. The Dementors are looking for LeStrange. They will leave when she is apprehended," Fudge insisted.

"I implore you to reconsider, Cornelius. Their presence is detrimental to the well-being of the students. And as for them trying to catch LeStrange, she has slipped past them at least five times now, so this tactic is obviously not working," Dumbledore pressed the politician.

"What do you mean _five!_? She only got into the school twice from what you said!" Fudge spluttered, outraged.

"Once to break out of Azkaban. Twice entering the school, and twice leaving. Five times past the Dementors," The headmaster patiently explained, yet Harry thought he was talking a little slower than normal like you would when explaining something to a child, "And every time those Dementors get more agitated. Did you even read the report I sent you of them attacking the quidditch game? It would not look good if a student gets hurt."

"Preposterous! It was a complete exaggeration. The Dementors are under ministry control; they wouldn't attack schoolchildren without full authorization." The Minister's secretary interrupted.

"Then I think you should do an investigation into who in the Ministry gave them authorization to attack a school full of teenagers. I was one of the students who ended up waking up in the hospital wing," Harry glared at the toad-like woman before he looked at Madam Bones, "One of the others was Susan," The head of the DMLE paled, then her face became stony as she glared at the Minister. It seemed as though she had not been told about the attack, let alone that the attack resulted in one of her kin being hurt.

Harry then turned back to Fudge, "I was on a broom about one hundred feet in the air at the time. I was lucky not to die when I fell off. The only reason I'm here now is that Cedric Diggory was able to catch me."

Harry watched the colour drain from the Minister's face. It was obvious his career as a politician would be over if something happened to the Boy-Who-Lived as a direct result of his actions.

Silence fell for a few minutes as everyone digested Harry's words. Harry was starting to hope that Fudge would remove the horrible things, until he finally spoke, "For all we know, the Dementors have kept the students safe a number of times. They stay," He flicked his wand and his bowler hat flew to his hand.

He put the hat back on his head then turned back to the people in the room, "Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Potter, I'm happy to see that you both are well, but I have a mountain of paperwork waiting on my desk. Good day to you all. Delores, let us go," The toad-like woman stood and followed Fudge as he walked out of the hospital wing.

"If that pompous idiot has ever done his own paperwork I'll eat my hat," Madam Longbottom said after Fudge was out of earshot, causing the teens to all stifle a laugh at the image of the older woman eating the stuffed vulture currently sat on the small cupboard next to Neville's bed.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

The rest of the term passed in a boring haze of books, studying and practicing spells.

The excitement of Harry facing off against LeStrange for a second time eventually died down for most of the school, though Hermione was sticking to Harry like a limpet, barely leaving his side during the day, and often sneaking into his dorm at night.

It wasn't just his safety she was concerned about, but her own as well.

With LeStrange having attacked Harry twice now and her once, Hermione was positive that the Death Eater would try again to kill them, but the two of them had much better odds if they were together.

The Aurors seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. There was now constantly at least one Auror at Hogwarts. They would arrive for a five hour shift and walk the castle and grounds until the next one came to take over.

A number of the Aurors seemed to think that if LeStrange did get back into the castle, then she would go directly for Harry, Neville, or Hermione. As such, the Gryffindors soon got used to seeing a figure in red Auror robes patrolling the grounds and halls around where their classes were being held.

The approach of Easter led to a small argument between Harry and Hermione;

"It's OK if you go home for Easter Break, Hermione. You have that offer to spend it with your gran," Harry said once the two of them were alone. Like most students, she had signed up on the list of students remaining at school that Professor McGonagall had passed around at the end of her class.

"I told you Harry, I am staying here. Exams are just around the corner. I need to set up a revision schedule and we need to start revising," Hermione put the emphasis on "we", as there was no way she was going to let Harry slack off.

He had done so well this year compared to his first two, and while he wasn't at her level in class, his grades had gone way up over the last year.

"Third year exams aren't that important, Hermione, it's the O. in fifth year and the N.E. in seventh that affect our future. An-" she cut him off before he could continue, "No, Harry, our exams are important to get into next year. If we don't do well enough we could be held back or even expelled!" She knew that the chances of that were practically nothing, but it could happen!

"Hermione, have you ever heard of anyone being held back? Even people like Crabbe, Goyle, and Ron get good enough grades to keep going. You wouldn't have any trouble getting into fourth year, even if you didn't study at all. You should go and see your gran; nothing should get in the way of seeing family."

Hermione froze, suddenly getting why Harry was so insistent. He had said it a few times over the years; _I'd give anything to have a real family_. The idea of Hermione not visiting her gran was just wrong to him. To have people who loved you, and you not doing all you can to spend as much time as you can with them, was something Harry couldn't understand.

"Harry, it's OK, my gran knows how seriously I take my studies. I will catch up with her in the summer, but I won't leave the castle this close to exams. I just can't."

Harry sighed and gave in, "Fine, you win. It's just I got the impression at Christmas that she missed you."

"Harry, she would miss me if I saw her every weekend. And I miss her, and I miss my parents. I will catch up with them all in the summer. Now, how often is Wood going to be holding Quidditch practice after Easter? I need to factor it into your revision timetable," Hermione pulled a sheet of parchment out and started drawing lines and times on it.

It looked like she was planning on booking his days down to the second as much as she could, though Harry smiled when the first thing she added to the timetable was their date night.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Author's Notes:**

Yes I know Umbridge is not just a secretary, but Harry doesn't understand what an undersecretary is.


	37. Chapter 37 - time marches on

**Chapter 37 time marches on**

The Easter feast in the Great Hall was spectacular. There was roast lamb, new potatoes, and seasonal greens. The dessert was a normal selection, plus baskets spaced a few feet apart, filled to the absolute brim with chocolate eggs that put Muggle ones to shame.

Whenever a student opened one of the eggs, a puff of coloured smoke was released and floated up from the shell, taking on the form of something Easter-inspired. The space above their heads was currently filled with a rainbow of ghostly bunnies playing with equally insubstantial eggs while little baby chicks and flowers floated about.

Harry was watching Hermione as she finished off a second bowl of chocolate ice cream with caramel sauce. Harry was fairly surprised that Hermione was actually eating a second bowl of dessert, when she normally limited herself to a half portion.

There was also the fact that Hermione was obviously enjoying her ice-cream. She occasionally moaned appreciatively as she ate, and those slight moans were having an effect on Harry to say the least. He wondered if Hermione was doing it on purpose.

Harry was soon pulled back to reality by a commotion from the Slytherin table. The Slytherins were all talking excitedly and crouching around someone. Harry was just going to ignore it and turned back to Hermione, who was also now looking over at the Slytherins. Harry picked up another egg from one of the baskets on the table and he was just about to crack it open when a voice sailed over from the Slytherin table, "Hey, Potter! Why don't you come over and look at this, then you can tell me again how you are going to beat me in our next game!" Malfoy's smug voice called over the crowd. Harry considered ignoring the stuck up git, but his curiosity got the better of him.

He made his way around the hall to the Slytherin table, where Malfoy was surrounded by a small crowd. The crowd of green-robed students parted as Harry got near, making way for him to get to Malfoy. Each face that looked at him was barely able to contain its glee at whatever had caused the excitement to begin with.

Malfoy was sitting at the table, in front of him a pile of brown paper that had obviously just been taken off a parcel he had been sent. The contents of the package were currently sat on top of the paper.

The long pole of ashwood was polished till it was smooth as glass, with pristine birch twigs, and on the top of the broom, in gold lettering, was the word 'Firebolt'.

"Well, what do you think, Potter? Still think you can out fly me? You know, I really should thank you. If you hadn't mouthed off to my father, he never would have gotten me this broom," The blond Slytherin looked extremely smug to be able to throw Harry's words from their first year, when he had gotten his Nimbus, back at him.

"I think we now know how your father rates your seeking skills. He can't think you're any good _at all_, if he thinks you need a Firebolt to beat a Nimbus 2000. Your father should have just gotten you a flying coach; it would have been cheaper. But then, you would have to work for something instead of just crying to Daddy, which I know is something that is impossible for you," Harry was laying it on thick, but despite his calm appearance, he was quite pissed off. Malfoy had spent thousands of galleons just to win the Quidditch cup.

"At least I _have _a father Potter!" Malfroy spat out in anger. The response from the Slytherins was mixed, as some thought it was fine and laughed. But a lot of the Slytherins didn't laugh, and many gave Malfoy venomous looks.

It wasn't only people from the other houses who had died in the blood war. A number of the Slytherins had lost family. Some in battle, some to illness, and some at the hands of Voldemort himself. There were plenty who had lost a parent, and definitely thought that Malfoy had stepped over the line. Even some of Malfoy's normal allies, such as Parkinson, weren't amused in the slightest by what he had said.

However, Malfoy himself didn't appear to take any notice of this. He didn't understand what other people had gone through during the Blood War, and how could he? His parents had sucked up immensely to Voldemort and his evil regime, and his family were unscathed afterwards, only having to say that they had been under the Imperius charm to get away with everything they had done.

Harry stewed at Malfoy for a few seconds, his hand twitching towards his wand. What he wouldn't give right now to blast that smug look of his face by burning his new broom to ashes! Instead, he only said, "I'll see you over on the Quidditch pitch," turning around and walking away before he did something that he would regret.

He collapsed back into his seat next to Hermione, who asked him what all the commotion was about.

"He has a Firebolt."

The sound of the Gryffindors enjoying dessert abruptly stopped. If there was one thing that could unite the House of Gryffindor, it was Quidditch. Namely, beating Slytherin in Quidditch.

"What did you say Harry?" One of the Weasley twins asked.

"You can't have said what I think I heard," Finished the other.

"Malfroy has a Firebolt," Harry said again.

"Damn it! It was my last shot at the Quidditch cup, and of course, the Slytherins pull some shit like this!" Wood really didn't sound happy, "Do you think you can still beat him to the snitch Harry?"

"I don't know," Harry despaired for a few seconds, "I normally spot the snitch before him, but once he sees me dive...that broom will catch up to mine in seconds. If I can catch it before he sees me dive, or if the snitch is a lot closer to me, it could be possible. But, I won't be putting any gold on a Gryffindor victory."

"That's what I thought," Wood groaned, before hitting his head into the table, "Damn!" _Bang!_ "those!" _Bang!_ "cheating!" _Bang!_ "Slytherins!"

"It's not cheating," Hermione interrupted.

A few of the Gryffindors shot looks at her, to which she huffed, "well, it's not! There are no rules against having a broom advantage, as long as the advantage is purely down to the quality of the broom. Not even when it's pushed to a ridiculous extreme like this is it cheating. But, I do know a way to stop them from winning the Quidditch Cup if you're interested," She suddenly had the interest of everyone close enough to hear. Hermione wasn't known to follow Quidditch, so more than a few were surprised that she, out of all people, would have a way to win the game.

"Oh merciful angel of victory!"

"Please, share your wisdom!" The twins did their double speak again.

"It wouldn't be a Gryffindor victory," She cautioned. "But, with the way the points are, Slytherin needs to win by over 100 points if they want to win the cup from Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, plus however much one of them wins by. If you forfeit the game, then they would win by zero and whoever won the Ravenclaw vs Hufflepuff match would win the cup. And Warlock Malfoy would have spent all that gold on a broom Draco won't even get a chance to fly," she finished.

The reactions of the listeners were mixed. Some were thinking it through, but others evidently did _not _like the idea.

"You can't be serious. We are Gryffindors, we don't act like cowards and run away!" One of the fifth year Gryffindor girls whom Harry didn't know called out.

"It's not running away, you fool. It's sticking it to the Snakes. They try to buy the Cup, so we make it impossible for them to win," another fifth year sitting next to her explained.

"It's a good suggestion Granger, I'll think about it, but we will probably play. It will be my last game here after all," Wood said. And it looked like he really was thinking about forfeiting again just to stick it to the Slytherin team.

The few Gryffindors who were still eating, including Hermione, returned to their desserts. The jovial atmosphere of the Easter celebration was gone as they considered just how difficult it would be for Gryffindor to win the Quidditch Cup now.

_-_**_ϟϟϟ_**_-_

**Friday 15th April**

Harry collapsed into bed, exhausted.

It had been a long week so far, and it was only Wednesday. Between Hermione, Wood, his two Runes projects, extra lessons with Lupin trying to cast the patronus charm, looking for a way to save Buckbeak and the teachers, he had no time to just sit and relax.

Hermione and the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as one another. They had added extra homework essays, not on the new stuff they were covering, but on topics they had covered earlier in the year.

The biggest problem with this was that Hermione refused to count the revision homework as revision time, instead calling it homework and insisting on revision on top. This would have been fine on its own, but along with double revision, there was also double Quidditch practice.

Wood was scheduling practice every other day and he was pushing Harry and the team harder than ever. He had Harry performing dive after dive, hoping to shave a few seconds off the time it took him to catch up to the snitch. Harry had to give it to his captain, he had managed to improve a lot more than he thought possible.

Still, Harry had it easy. The chasers were doing passing drills, taking goal shots, and practicing their formation flying. Wood wanted them to be able to get an early lead in points to put pressure on the Slytherins.

As the Slytherins needed to win by at least two-hundred points to win the cup, Wood was hoping that if they kept a lead in points, then the advantage given by the Firebolt would be kept in check.

The twins were enjoying the practice. Wood had enchanted an old quaffle to fly around the pitch, and the twins were tasked with trying to hit it with the bludgers. They had taken to their target practice with gusto, and had modified the quaffle so that it had blond hair and a sneer, much to the amusement of Katie and Angelina.

In fairness to Wood, as hard as he was pushing the team, he was pushing himself harder. He was staying on the pitch after practice with enchanted quaffles flying at him as he attempted to defend the hoops. Wood wasn't returning to the common room until right before curfew. Even when he wasn't doing Quidditch practice, he was staying in the library until Madam Pince kicked him out as he prepared for his N.E. .

Himself and Hermione were still spending every Sunday bent over the Hogwarts library's selection of books on British wizarding law. They just couldn't seem to find what they needed, as the law just wasn't on their side.

Harry had taken to spending the last ten minutes of Care of Magical Creatures in the Hippogriff paddock with Buckbeak. After the Hippogriff had saved him from LeStrange, he was more determined than ever to help the majestic creature avoid the executioner's axe.

Thanking Dobby, mercifully was a lot easier. When Harry had asked if the eccentric house elf wanted or needed anything, Dobby had outright refused anything. However, Harry noticed that Dobby was wearing a tea cosy for a hat, an old knitted one in a rainbow of colours that had faded with time, and it was worn thin in some places, and in others, had to be held together by magic.

It had been relatively simple for Harry to owl order a new tea cosy for the elf and add some runes that would keep the elf's exposed ears warm. It was simple enough to enchant as well, as he had not long ago finished with the rune array that would be going on Hermione's hair band to keep her ears at a comfortable temperature, no matter the weather.

When Harry considered just how many demands he had on his time, he thought about sending a letter to Dan and Emma asking them to send him a weekly pack of energy drinks to help him keep up the needed pace, but decided against it.

He wasn't a fan of asking the Grangers for things, even more so if he didn't absolutely need it. The uncomfortable feeling he got was a holdover from his uncle's constant complaints about how much it cost to feed him, and how he was nothing but a burden on good, hard-working people.

He knew that the Granger's would tell him not to think like that, but he also knew that the Grangers wouldn't approve of a drink that had so much sugar in it. It was weird to think that they would be disappointed, not because Harry was costing them money, but because they were concerned about his health.

Plus, if the Grangers did for some reason actually agree, Harry would soon have to face Hedwig's displeasure at having to carry a heavy package all the way from London to somewhere in Scotland every week. As much as his girl loved flying, Harry was positive that she would get tired of the task quickly, and would definitely let him know so.

Harry let the siren call of his pillow lull him into sleep, only stirring once to snuggle into his girlfriend when she snuck into his bed around midnight.

_-_**_ϟϟϟ_**_-_

Harry read the note in his hand again as he waited. At breakfast an overly excited Colin Creevey had handed it to him;

_Harry, I need to have a word with you. I have spoken to Professor Snape, and instead of going to your potions lesson today, could you come up to my office? I'm sure you can ask Miss Granger to take notes for you and to deliver your homework._

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_Headmaster of Hogwarts_

_P.S. I like liquorice wands._

It had taken Harry a few minutes after first reading the note to remember that the headmaster had used the names of sweets for the password to his office last year.

When Harry reached the door to the Headmaster's office, he had been a little surprised when the door knocker he used started speaking to him. The door knocker was shaped like the head of a gargoyle that was the twin of the one that guarded the stairwell, and spoke with a high pitched tiny voice, "The headmaster is currently out of the office. Please come back another time."

"The headmaster sent me a note telling me to come here during the first lesson," Harry told the knocker.

"Show me the note," The gargoyle head demanded. Harry fished the note from his robe pocket and held it up where the gargoyle could read it, "That seems in order, go on through and take a seat, I'm sure the headmaster will be along shortly," The door clicked as it unlocked and swung open, revealing the Headmaster's office. After a quick look around the room that was filled with strange magical devices, books and eclectic decorations, Harry went over to the ornate perch that supported the Headmaster's phoenix, Fawkes.

"Hello, Fawkes. How are you?" The phoenix chirped happily as Harry stroked the plume of feathers on his head.

It took Dumbledore almost ten minutes to arrive, "Ah, Harry, my boy. Good to see you are here already," The headmaster sat at his desk and pointed Harry to one of the chairs opposite, "Have a seat," Dumbledore smiled at Harry, his eyes twinkling like they always seemed to do.

The Headmaster didn't say anything for almost two minutes, until Harry broke the silence that was becoming uncomfortable, "You wanted to speak to me, sir?"

"I did, yes. It recently came to my attention that when you went home for Christmas, you didn't go to your family, but instead, went to Miss Granger's home. I would like to hear why."

"Why? I was invited to spend Christmas there, sir," Harry was confused, of all the topics he'd imagined the Headmaster wanted to talk about, him spending Christmas with Hermione was not something he thought concerned the Headmaster.

"I can understand that you want to spend time with Miss Granger, but if your family found out that you left school without going home, it would surely upset them," Harry snorted under his breath. _The only part of spending Christmas with Hermione and her family that the Dursleys would be upset about was that I enjoyed myself._

Dumbledore continued, "It's one thing to stay at school and study, it's another thing entirely to go gallivanting across the country to stay with people whom your family has never met. And you really should get your guardians' permission before you spend time away from school."

"I really don't think my relatives care much where I go, Professor, as long as it doesn't affect them. I have been staying with the Grangers since the start of August-" Harry started to explain before Dumbledore cut him off, "I'm sure they miss you Harry. You will see when you return to them in July."

Harry felt a cold feeling settle in the pit of his stomach, "I'm not going back there in July, Professor -"

Again Dumbledore cut him off, "I'm afraid you don't have a choice, Harry, I must _insist _you return to your family. As the Headmaster of Hogwarts, it is my duty to look after the students who come here and then return them to their family at the end of the year. It's for your safety," _Was that why Dumbledore was doing this?_ Harry thought. _Does he feel like he has a responsibility to return me to my relatives?_

"But sir, over the summer, a lot of stuff...happened, and the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement said it would be best if I stayed with the Grangers for a time," Harry tried once more to explain, but he still found it hard to talk about the Dursleys.

"I'm quite sure that she just meant for the summer, Harry. Don't worry about it, I will talk with Director Bones and send a letter to your family. They will pick you up from the train station at the end of the year."

"But profes-"

This time the Headmaster barely let him start speaking before cutting him off, "I know it must feel dreadfully unfair to you, Harry, my boy, but it's what needs to happen. You will go home this summer. Understood?"

Home?

Not the Dursleys, Dumbledore said, but _home_. He was instantly aware of the key Hermione had given him on Valentine's Day that was sitting in a small pocket of his wand holster, "Yes Professor, I'll go home," He did his best to look defeated, staring at his lap. After all, Harry had agreed he would go _home_, not that he would go to the Dursleys.

"Right, on to the second topic I wanted to discuss. How is your personal project coming along?"

That question surprised Harry. Why would Professor Dumbledore ask about his Runes project? "It's going well, sir, I've actually got two different things that are almost ready to present to Professor Babbling at the end of the year."

"You know Harry, most students don't take the option to take a risk on a personal project. It is much easier to get a job after Hogwarts the more O. and N.E. you have. If you don't put in a good project at the end of the year, I will have to put you in one of the regular O. classes. I doubt that you could catch up in Arithmancy, and Muggle Studies would be as much a waste of time for you as it would be for Muggle-born students, so that leaves Divination."

Harry felt a lump form in his throat. He had heard from Neville what the Divination teacher was like, and he really didn't want to listen to her predicting his death every week, "I really don't want to take Divination, professor."

"I can understand that, my boy. But of the three available classes, it is the only one that you could pass where you would learn something. I'm not transferring you in now, but if you don't do well with your project, then I will have little choice."

Harry didn't like the sound of Divination, but he could see that the headmaster had a point about getting an O.W.L if his Runes project failed, "I understand, Professor."

"Out of curiosity Harry, what is the project that you are working on? Professor Babbling has been rather tight-lipped about it."

"Well, the first one started as a way to help Hermione, but the full project is about helping people like Hermione get out into the Muggle world. The other one I think I will keep to myself for now, sir. I was thinking about selling them once they are done and, well...you know what the castle's rumor mill is like. I don't want someone else who could do it first to jump in at the last second," Harry explained.

"I understand. Let's just hope that your project lives up to your expectations. I wouldn't want to have to put you in a class you wouldn't like," The Headmaster was looking at him in his normal grandfatherly way, "I know it's not what you planned Harry, but life isn't always accommodating to our plans for the future, especially for the young ones. Sometimes, it is best to just let those who have experience guide the way, as we often can see the road to the best outcome a lot clearer," It seemed to Harry like Professor Dumbledore was trying to say more than what he intended to about Harry's schooling and where he would spend the summer, but Harry just didn't understand what he was trying to say.

"Well Harry, it's been wonderful talking with you, but if you are going to get to your next lesson, you need to get moving. Have a good day," The Headmaster dismissed him.

Harry picked up his bag and made his way out of the office, a little confused. They had barely talked for thirty minutes, and Harry's next lesson wouldn't start for another forty five minutes, as there was a break after the first period of the day.

There was no need for Harry to rush off at all. _Maybe Dumbledore had another meeting with someone else?_ He was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wix.

It wouldn't surprise Harry if Dumbledore had a lot of meetings that he needed to attend.

Harry slowly made his way down to the dungeons. With only fifteen minutes until Potions let out, it wasn't worth going to the library to work on something. By the time he sat down with some work it would be time to pack up and meet Hermione.

Harry selected a spot where he could see and would be seen by anyone coming up from the Potions classroom and waited. He didn't have to wait long before Slytherins and Gryffindors started making their way up one of the sets of stairs that led to the dungeons.

As was normal after a lesson with Snape, the Slytherins all looked smug and the Gryffindors looked angry. Only, this time, Hermione also looked very pissed off.

He waited until she had cleared out of the top of the stairs before walking over and pulling her into a hug, "What happened? You look ready to kill someone. Was it Snape?"

She nodded into his chest, "He was _awfully _horrid today. He chose a potion that needs two people to brew, then took points from me because my partner wasn't there," Harry winced; he was Hermione's potions partner.

"Then, he set us a two foot essay on the potion we brewed today, and of course, you need to hand one in as well, and if you don't, he said he'll give you detention. He even said '_We'll have to see how well Gryffindor's seeker can do when he spends all his time scrubbing cauldrons instead of practicing Quidditch._' And doing the essay without having brewed this potion will be almost impossible..." Hermione was ranting in her rage.

"Hermione, breathe. We can deal with this. It's Friday after class, we are free till tomorrow night, when I have Quidditch practice," Wood was still pushing a lot of practice on the team. He had wanted to have a practice Sunday as well, but Alicia had threatened to stage a coup d'etat if she didn't have time to revise for her O. , "We can go up to the room and brew the potion ourselves, then write the essay," Harry offered up his solution to the problem.

"I know, but I wanted us to relax tonight. We have been revising really hard, and I have been looking forward to tonight all week," She replied, "And Professor Snape ruined all our plans, just because he wants his house to win at Quidditch! How can the headmaster let him treat students like this? It's totally unprofessional," Harry winced at Hermione's mention of Dumbledore and she noticed, "What's wrong?"

"Dumbledore wants me to go back to the Dursleys over the summer. That's what he wanted to talk to me about," Harry said.

"Harry, it doesn't matter what the Headmaster wants. The order from Director Bones makes it illegal for you to go back there. She deemed the risk of you doing accidental magic there so high that it was a risk to the Statute of Secrecy," They were walking through the castle at this point, taking a leisurely route to the History of Magic classroom where their next scheduled class after morning break was.

"Dumbledore said he was going to write to Director Bones and the Dursleys. He wouldn't let me explain anything, he just kept talking and made me promise to go home for the summer," Harry told her more about the meeting.

Hermione's face fell as he mentioned going home, "It doesn't matter what you promised, Harry, you can't go back to those _people," _The way Hermione said "people" sounded like it was the dirtiest most disgusting swear word she knew.

"It does matter Mione," He cut her off as she tried to protest, "_Home, _love. I said I promised to go _home," _He put emphasis on the word, and after the second time, Hermione's eyes lit up with understanding, "Oh Harry! you really think of it as home already?" She leaned into him in a half-hug as they walked.

"Privet Drive was never home. Not for me. It was just the place my relatives live. Hogwarts was the first place that felt anything like a home to me, but it has nothing on living with you and your parents."

Hermione stopped walking and threw herself at Harry, wrapping herself around him in the tightest hug she could manage. After almost five minutes, she broke off the hug, "I'll write to Mum and Dad and tell them what happened. They will probably have to write to Director Bones themselves. You should write a letter to Director Bones as well, telling her that you would prefer to keep staying with us."

Harry nodded, "I'll do that. I'll send the letter with Hedwig to your parents and ask her to stay with them for a little while. There will probably be a few letters your parents will need to send."

"Sounds like a plan, though I'm glad _you _will be the one telling Hedwig you want her to stay with my parents for a while."

Harry winced as he thought of what his familiar would do to him if she thought she was being sent away, "As long as I explain it's to keep us from having to return to Privet Drive, she will understand. She won't like it, but she'll understand," Harry was trying to convince himself as much as Hermione.

"I suggest you take some bacon with you," Hermione laughed.


	38. Chapter 38 - Rings and wings

**Chapter 38 - Rings and Wings**

Harry looked at the wooden stick dangling from the paper ring on his right index finger. The ring was his latest attempt at his Runes project, and the runes on the ring and the paper tag, which was stuck to the bottom of the fake wands, were working perfectly.

As he fed a small trickle of his magic into the ring, the runes activated and pulled the targeting tag, and the wand it was attached to, directly to him. The wand would even fly around corners and avoid things like furniture if they were in the way.

The problem was, even though the ring was a lot better than the bracelet that he had come up with originally, it was still a fiddle to grip the wand in a way that you could cast with it once it was dangling from the ring.

Harry rubbed his eyes as he fought off the weariness that was threatening to claim him. It wasn't even that late, it was just that with the last quidditch game of the year next week, followed by exams a little under a month after, and then Buckbeak's trial being set for the day after his last exam, Harry hadn't had much rest recently.

He was glad that the project for Hermione's hairband and tail sock had gone a lot smoother. He now had both items ready to be presented to Professor Babbling, and whoever was selected to evaluate his project with her.

He had wanted to give the items to Hermione in the meantime, but she had refused, saying that she didn't need them while they were at Hogwarts, and that it would look better in the evaluation if they weren't covered in cat hairs.

Harry was quite proud of the list of things that he had been able to cram into the simple items. The tail sock now wouldn't leave any bulge at all behind his girlfriend. Harry didn't mind either way (personally, he thought Hermione's tail was cute), but Hermione wanted to go swimming over the summer and visit the beach, and obviously Muggle swimming costumes didn't leave a way to hide a tail stub. Harry, upon hearing that Hermione wanted to go swimming, had added water-proofing runes to go along with the list of enchantments he had been able to add both items.

Now, the items would keep Hermione's ears and tail at a comfortable temperature. They were also self-cleaning, in case she had to go a while without removing them, like she had to over Christmas, and the hair band could change its colour and pattern to match whatever Hermione was wearing. It also had a function that Hermione could turn on and off as she pleased, and that was to remove the muffling effect that the hairband had on her hearing. Sometimes, it was just too loud for Hermione to be comfortable with her enhanced hearing.

The most complicated runes were the realistic illusion of human ears that Harry had added. The challenge wasn't the ears themselves, but modifying the runes so that the illusion was anchored to the right spots on Hermione's head; if the hairband moved, the ears would have to stay where they needed to be.

Harry looked down at the fake wand sitting on the common room table in front of him, and decided that he had given up for the day; he was too tired to think straight right now.

He started packing away his stuff. He slipped off the paper ring and slid it onto the fake wand, so that it wouldn't get damaged, then put it in a small box that he was keeping the project in. He was just about to close the lid when he pulled out the wand again and looked at it.

"Eu-fucking-recka!"

The paper ring had slid down the wand, and had come to rest on the handle, where the wand was just a little thicker than his finger. He picked up the fake wand, holding it as though he was going to cast a spell, and while the paper ring wasn't exactly where it would need to be, he only needed to slide it about half an inch down, so that the paper ring was inline with where it was on his index finger only a few minutes before.

Harry pulled all his materials back out from the box and pulled one of the sheets of parchment towards him. He began to redesign the targeting array to work as a ring, instead of the normal flat design he had been using so far.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Hermione was having trouble sleeping again. Every time she fell asleep, her dreams always seemed to be some sort of variation of LeStrange coming after her, Harry or one of her friends. After waking up for a third time, this time with images of Daphne and Tracy being the latest victims of her overactive subconscious, she gave up on sleeping alone.

It was a little embarrassing sneaking into the boys' dorm, but it was more than worth it for a good night's sleep. Something about sleeping next to Harry was able to calm her anxieties enough that she could actually get to sleep.

Not to mention that she enjoyed hugging and lying next to him. It was something about being able to press up against him that helped her sleep better than any potion or spell could.

She had tried asking Madam Pomfrey for help with her dreams, but the mediwitch had explained that the dreamless sleep potion was dangerous if used for more than a few days. Apparently, it was far healthier for her to work though her issues without magic.

She climbed out of bed, and after a little fumbling in the dark, she pulled on her dressing gown and slippers. Her frequent trips to join her boyfriend in the middle of the night had taught her that the uncarpeted parts of the castle were rather cold on her bare feet.

As she walked down the spiral staircase that led from the girls' dorm to the common room, she mused over how close she had gotten to Harry. She knew that it wasn't normal to have such a strong relationship while she was this young, even in the wizarding world, where people were pushed by their magic to get together younger than they do in the Muggle world. She was still only fourteen, yet the solidarity of her and Harry's relationship made her feel that it wasn't going to end anytime soon.

She was brought out of her musings when she reached the common room to find that it wasn't empty; Harry was sitting at one of the desks, working away at something, completely oblivious to the fact that every other Gryffindor had gone to bed.

She tiredly shuffled over to him and looked over his shoulder. He was using the rune carving kit she had gotten him for Christmas, and was carving runes into a wooden ring while he constantly referred back to the mess of notes that he had, which had no organisation whatsoever, as far as she could tell.

"Harry, why are you still up?" Harry jumped when she asked her question, evidently not realising that she was there. His chair clattered to the ground and he was on his feet in an instant.

When Harry saw that it was only her, he visibly relaxed, though the sudden fright had left him out of breath, "Hermione, why did you sneak up on me like that? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Don't be so dramatic", Hermione sighed, "I didn't _sneak up_ on you. I walked over and asked a question. One you still haven't answered. Why are you still up?"

At Hermione's question, Harry finally looked around and saw that the two of them were alone in the common room. "Wha- where is everyone?"

"In bed."

"What time is it?" Harry asked. He wasn't talking to her; he was just thinking out loud as he pulled the watch her father had given him for Christmas from his pocket.

Surprise and shock spread over his face as he flicked the cover off the watch realised that the time was a little after 1AM, "Oh shit! I didn't realize it was that late. Sorry, I guess I just got caught up in my work. Speaking of which, I think I worked out the problem for the rune summoning. Turned out, the answer was rings."

"I thought you were already using a ring?"

"_Rings_, plural. Two to be exact. One on my finger and one on the wand, look," he picked up one of the fake wands; this one had a ring of parchment etched with runes wrapped around the handle, and a second paper ring hung loosely on the shaft of the carved stick. She watched as he slipped the second ring off the wand and put it on his own index finger.

Then, without warning, he threw the wand across the common room. It landed on one of the overstuffed comfy chairs near the fire. He then held out his hand, and the wand came whizzing straight back to his hand. He pointed the fake wand at Hermione's impressed face and said "bang!" like a kid pretending to shoot someone with their finger.

With the wand being fake, and Harry having not used a spell, there was obviously no effect, but it did show Hermione that the wand fit into Harry's hand in the same way he held it to cast spells. Hermione could see what he had been working on now; while the wand had gone to his hand when summoned, the angle in which it met his hand, and then the time it would require to right the wand, meant that it was inefficient in a fight, when every second could be the difference between winning or losing.

Hermione jumped up and down, shrieking in excitement, before throwing herself into Harry's arms, her nightmare completely and utterly forgotten in her excitement. "Oh, Harry, that's brilliant! You finally did it; I'm so proud of you."

She took the fake wand from his hand to examine his handiwork herself while he explained the finer details to her, "Of course, i'm not going to be using paper rings; that would make all sorts of problems. What I'm going to do now is carve some rings made out of _wood_, so that they'll be more durable-"

"Not tonight, you won't," Hermione said sternly. Harry opened his mouth to argue, but she silenced him with a look, "Harry, as much as you're excited to finish this idea of yours, and I'm excited to see it, you know you should be sleeping; we still have lessons in the morning."

"But tomorrow is the last day before half-term..."

"And our first lesson is _potions_. Do you really want to give Professor Snape an excuse to have you in detention, instead of practicing for your game against Slytherin? You know he's still mad you were able to do that essay. If you fall asleep in his lesson tomorrow, or if you don't even pay full attention, you know he will try to have you in detention on Thursday during the match," Hermione reasoned.

She saw the flash of understanding cross his face. "Damn, you're right; I should get to bed," He started packing up all his rune equipment, before he turned back to her, "Mione, why were you up?" It took him only a second to think of the reason, "Nightmares again?"

His concern bled through his voice, and he reached out to embrace her. She nodded and let him pull her into his side, his one arm wrapped around her shoulders while the other rest on her lower back.

Hermione breathed out and felt the anxiety slowly start to drain out of her.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"L-LeStrange was there...s-she was killing you, over and over again, and I couldn't move or help. I couldn't do anything but watch her hurt you..." She buried her face in his chest.

His right arm tightened around her, almost uncomfortably so, though she would never want him to let her go.

"Let's go get some sleep," He packed up his runes project with his free hand, and while it was harder to do so, he didn't even consider letting her go.

The two made their way up to the boys dorm, and Harry only let her go for a few minutes when he needed to change out of his robes. Hermione blushed as she saw Harry in nothing but his boxers as he pulled out a t-shirt; it was one of the ones that her father had given him in the few days between his arrival at home and their shopping trip. It was grey, with the slogan '_May the floss be with you' _written across the chest, and her father had gotten it from a dental care conference a few years ago.

Harry climbed into the bed next to her, and she snuggled into him. The two of them quickly fell asleep.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

**Monday 30th May**

Harry and Hermione's first lesson-free day of the half term break was interrupted before it could begin. The weather was warming, and the air was filled with sweet aromas as spring awoke the plants from their frost-induced slumber.

The two of them had planned to take their books out into the grounds with a picnic and take advantage of the sun, while studying for the exams that were suddenly looking very close.

Wood had tried to get the Quidditch team together for a practice today, but with the Ravenclaw Vs Hufflepuff match tomorrow, those two teams had priority for the pitch. The Badgers had it in the morning till lunch, and the Eagles had it from lunch to dinner.

The interruption to their plan came in the form of a beautiful white snowy owl bearing a letter addressed to the two of them. Harry exchanged some bacon from the serving platter in the middle of the Gryffindor dining table for the letter his familiar carried. "It's from your parents; to both of us," Harry informed Hermione after looking at the envelope and seeing his and Mione's names in her father's handwriting.

Hermione swallowed her mouthful of breakfast and looked over at the envelope, "You want to open it here, or should we take it upstairs?" They both knew that the letter was probably about whether he would be sent back to his relatives. It was why Hedwig had spent so much time in London since his conversation with the headmaster.

"Upstairs." Hermione nodded and they stood up, abandoning the remnants of her mostly finished breakfast.

The two made their way up to the Seventh floor in relative silence. Until the letter arrived, the thought of returning to the Dursleys had been an abstract concept, now that he was carrying the letter in his hand that might send him back there, everything that could mean was hitting him, and he could feel his anxiety rising to the point that it almost felt difficult to breath.

Hermione opened the Room of Requirement, and the two of them walked in. Harry was too focused on the letter in his hand to do more than notice that the room had the usual sofa that he and Hermione normally sat on.

He stared at the letter for almost a full minute, before he finally ripped open the envelope;

_Hermione & Harry,_

_We got your letter. Sorry about not writing back straight away, but we wanted to get in touch with Director Bones before sending you a letter without any answers in it._

_Director Bones has confirmed that she does not think that it would be in Harry's, or the wizarding world's, interest for him to return to the Dursley's. The fact that the chances are high that Harry would have to defend himself with magic, and in doing so risk revealing the magical world to us non-magical folks, presents too high a risk. While it is disturbing that that holds more legal weight in the magical world than the fact that _Harry _would be at risk, unfortunately we have to utilise that to keep Harry away from those 'people'._

_It's also worth noting that Director Bones has not received any letters or messages from your Headmaster about Harry, and Dumbledore has apparently had plenty of opportunities to do so, as he corresponds with Director Bones regularly in his role as Supreme Mugwump. Speaking of, how can one man hold such important full time positions at the same time? Even with magic, it must be affecting the quality of his work? I'm not sure I like the idea of your schooling being sub-par because your Headteacher is spreading himself so thin._

_Madam Bones also wanted us to give Harry a message; "Unless you receive a signed notice from her, or an official ministry of magic letter headed parchment telling you specifically that the relocation order has been withdrawn, then you cannot legally return to the home or neighbourhood of your relatives." She also advised that you don't meet with them in a muggle area, but said that if you wanted to meet them in a place like the Leaky Cauldron, then that would be acceptable, as any unprecedented outburst of magic there would be contained to the magical world._

_Harry, If you do want to meet with your aunt and/or uncle, then Emma or myself will go with you. I know you will probably say you don't want to, and that is fine, just be aware that the option is open to you if you want it._

_Director Bones has also been helping us to make some arrangements, so there will be a surprise waiting for the two of you when you get home..._

The letter went on to talk about other things, with some details of Hermione's parent's lives and business. Harry skimmed through the rest of the letter, too concerned with what he had read about his relatives to take much notice of the rest of the letter. He would read the rest of the letter over later, once he'd stopped worrying.

He handed over the letter to Hermione. He took the time as she read it to let as much of the tension and anxiety leave him as possible. He didn't realize how much it was upsetting his stomach until he started to feel somewhat better.

He wasn't going back to the Dursleys!

He knew that the Granger's had promised that he would never go back, he also knew that they truly meant it. He wasn't naive though. There was only so much they could do if the ministry decided to send him back. He hated how little say he'd had in his own life.

That line of thought would only get him down, so he instead focused on Dan's mention of a surprise. Just what kind of surprise could Emma and Dan be arranging that would need Madam Bones's help?

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry gripped his broom tight enough that his knuckles cracked. Malfoy wasn't playing Quidditch. He was on the pitch as Slytherin's seeker, yes, but he seemed to be more concerned with showing off his new broom than actually trying to find the snitch. Instead of looking for the golden ball, Malfoy was performing stunts; everything from simple loops and barrel rolls, to more complicated free fall turns, where, instead of turning in an curve, you stop flying altogether and freefall a little before flying in a different direction. It could be a little faster, especially if you were heading down rather than up, but it was also a lot more dangerous to perform.

What was annoying Harry more was that he had already seen the snitch twice now but couldn't chance it, what with Malfoy's huge broom advantage.

The Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw match had gone to the Ravens, meaning that, if Gryffindor won by 180 points or more, they would get the cup, but if Slytherin won by just 60 points, the cup was theirs. Any other result between the two would see Ravenclaw crowned the Quidditch champions. Because of this, Harry couldn't go after the snitch until Gryffindor were at least 30 points in the lead. The score was currently 30 - 50 in their favour. The Slytherins were playing the same dirty tricks they always played, but their keeper and captain, Flint, was doing a much better job of guarding the hoops than normal, which meant that Angelina, Alicia and Katie hadn't been able to capitalise on the penalties that the Slytherins kept conceding as well as they normally would.

It wasn't that the three chasers were having a bad game at all. The three of them were actually playing better and more intensely than Harry had ever seen. Flint, however, was unfortunately having the best game of his life as well. He was making save after save that would have probably gotten past him last year.

Harry looked around, searching for something to do. As a seeker, he wasn't able to help his teammates as his role was to catch the snitch, and of course, he couldn't do that yet. What he _really_ wanted to do was knock Malfoy off his broom.

Harry watched as one of the Slytherin chasers took a shot at the Gryffindor hoops, only for Wood to punch the ball back away to the pitch, straight into Katie's hands. The Gryffindor chasers passed the ball back and forth between themselves as they made their way down the pitch.

The Slytherin beaters tried to stop them, but Fred and George were just too much to handle. Wood's insane training had paid off, and the two human cannon balls were enjoying sending the bludgers straight at Malfoy. Their plan was simple enough; it didn't matter what kind of broom Malfoy had if he was unconscious. An unconscious seeker couldn't catch a snitch.

Angelina got her hands on the quaffle and took on Flint for her fifth attempt at scoring this match. So far, Flint had blocked three of her attempts. Harry held his breath as she entered the scoring area. She feigned a throw towards the right hoop, but the quaffle never left her hand. Then she turned sharply to the left hoop. Harry watched as Flint flew to cover the left hoop, and it appeared as though he hadn't been fooled by Angelina's feint.

But then the quaffle went straight to the right hoop that Angelina had targeted originally. It took Harry a few seconds to understand what he had watched. Angelina had done a double feint, and she had scored.

Gryffindor was 30 points ahead. If only he knew where the snitch was.

An idea suddenly flashed through Harry's mind. If he was going to do it though, the time was now. Malfoy was flying a lot higher than normal, confident that his broom's speed would allow him to beat Harry to the snitch from wherever he was on the pitch.

Harry dove.

And he dove hard, pushing his broom as fast as it would go. The crowd went wild, assuming that Harry knew where the snitch was and had just been waiting for the points to be in Gryffindor's favour. With all the commotion, Harry knew Malfoy was now following him. He must be pushing the Firebolt as hard as he could to close the gap between them.

Harry continued his dive. He even stretched out his arm as if he was reaching for the snitch. He could hear Malfoy behind him, "You don't stand a chance, Potter!"

Harry ignored him and focused on his plan. If this went badly, there was no way Hermione was ever going to let him play Quidditch again. The ground was rushing up at Harry dangerously fast, but he held the dive. A part of him wondered if this plan was more Gryffindor or Slytherin.

On one hand, the dive was pure Gryffindor boldness; it was reckless and daring, and more than a little bit idiotic, and yet, the whole plan hinged on being cunning enough to trick Malfoy into following him. And that was pretty Slytherin.

Harry held his nerve till the last possible second, and pulled up when he was only about twelve feet in the air. He was too close to the ground to avoid it completely, and he felt the short grass of the pitch wip at his knee as a warning to him just how close he was to disaster.

Malfoy, however, was going much faster than Harry, and he wasn't able to pull up completely in time. Harry didn't look back straight away, to concentrate on controlling his broom as he recovered from the dive. But, the loud thump and crack behind him was enough to tell him he had succeeded far better than he had planned.

Once Harry had regained enough control, he brought his broom around to look at what had happened to Malfoy, and upon seeing the sight that lay before him, he had to fight back raucous laugh. The blond git was already back on his feet, cursing up a storm, and the reason for his outburst was clear.

It was easy to see where Malfoy had hit the pitch; there was a six foot furrow carved out of the pitch, and sticking out of the one end was Malfoy's shiny new Firebolt. Or...at least _half _of it. The other half, the half with the twigs and stirrups, was lying at Malfoy's feet.

Harry's plan had worked out way better than he hoped. He had hoped that Malfoy would pull it off the dive sooner, once he realised it was a feint. He was hoping that when he did spot the snitch that Malfoy would hesitate and second guess before following, giving Harry a few extra seconds when it counted.

He never considered that Malfoy would overcommit to the dive. Maybe he thought that with his broom advantage he could pull off whatever Harry could do on his broom easily. If that was the case, then Malfoy had committed a basic fundamental error; the faster you are going the less time you have to react. It doesn't matter how good your broom's turning is if you don't react in time.

Whatever had caused Malfoy to plummet into the ground, the Slytherins, and Malfoy himself, were now down a broom. And a very good broom, at that. Madam Hooch called a time out while she flew down to check on Malfoy. The time out was technically against the rules of standard Quidditch. Usually, the other teammates were supposed to check on an injured player, while the referee continued the game. As Hogwarts was a school, however, as a teacher Madam Hooch had to take care of the students if they got hurt.

Harry flew over to the rest of the Gryffindor team. The six of them were all looking at him with unrepentant glee. As soon as as he was close enough to hear them, they started up;

"That was amazing!"

"Why didn't you tell us you were going to do something like that!?"

"That dive was _legendary_..."

They were all talking over each other, and Harry only caught a few sentences before they calmed down enough to talk one at a time.

"Did you see the look on the Ponce's face?" One of the twins asked.

"Which one? The one eating the pitch, or the one in the stands?" Alicia replied with a grin. Malfroy's father was watching from the stands.

"Both!" The twins exclaimed in unison.

"Ok, calm down you lot," Wood took control of the conversation, "Malfoy's Firebolt looks like it's out of commission, but he himself looks mostly fine. I wouldn't be surprised to find out he has expensive Quidditch armour under his robes with the kind with cushioning charms to keep him safe when stuff like this happens. Don't forget that Malfoy still has his Nimbus 2001, so he will still have a broom advantage, albeit a lesser one."

"Harry can just break that one too," Katie crowed, and the other chasers nodded at her statement.

Harry was a little embarrassed by the chasers' faith in his skill. "Not likely, I didn't intend for him to crash. My guess is, he just didn't react fast enough at the speed he was flying at. He won't make the same mistake twice."

"He also won't be as overly confident on his Nimbus. He will actually be looking for the snitch instead of just showing off his fancy new broom," Wood continued. "We haven't won yet, but we have a good shot now. So, when Madam Hooch restarts the game, let's give it all we got. We can win this, guys, I can feel it," Wood really liked to give his speeches, even at times like this. Harry thought he would be a great coach In a sports film, giving one last speech in the final few minutes of a game where you only need one more goal; that would be just up Oliver's alley.

"And let's not forget-"

"No matter what happens here today-" The twins were back at their doublespeak.

"Win or lose Malfoy still broke his shiny new broom during his first game with it."

"And that will always be a win." The team laughed at that, and soon Madam Hooch was blowing her whistle to get their attention so she could resume the game.

According to madam Hooch, Malfoy was almost completely fine, a few bumps but nothing to worry about. Harry had no trouble believing their flying instructor, while she was no healer or medi-witch the former quidditch player was a dab hand at diagnostic charms.

The game restarted with fourteen of the fifteen flyers in the air: seven Gryffindors, one referee, and six Slytherins, as Draco was rushing to the Slytherin broom lockers to retrieve his old broom. Harry thought it was a pity that Malfoy didn't keep his Nimbus in his dorm, he would have loved to have had all the time it took for Malfoy to run there and back to look for the snitch.

Unfortunately, despite Harry's best efforts, when Malfoy returned Harry was still looking for the elusive golden ball.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

After the excitement of his dive and the destruction of Draco's new broom the game picked up. The Slytherin team's confidence took a dive and it showed in their game play. Gryffindor had already scored another four times to Slytherin's one. Every time Gryffindor scored it put more pressure on Malfoy and took a little off Harry. The green-clad blond seeker was frantically searching for the snitch now, a direct contrast to his attitude when he was flying his Firebolt.

Harry was also looking for the snitch, it had been forty minutes since the feint and there was still no sign of it. Harry looked around searching as he completed yet another loop around the pitch, still unable to locate the ball.

Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw one of the Slytherin chasers had the quaffle and was flying towards Wood for an attempt at a goal. A loud cheer erupted from the Slytherin stands, telling Harry, without even needing to look or pay attention to Lee Jordan's commentary, that the Slytherin chasers had closed the gap in points a little.

Just then, however, with everyone distracted by the goal Harry saw it! The snitch was hovering right behind the left golden hoop on the Slytherin side. The problem was that Malfoy was a lot closer to it than he was. If Harry just shot at the snitch like he normally would, Malfoy would see. With him being closer and having a slightly faster broom, there was no way Harry would get to the snitch first. He might still catch it in that situation, but that would be more because of Malfoy failing to catch it before Harry caught up.

Harry started flying across the pitch and slowly tracked towards the Slytherin goal hoops. He kept one eye on the snitch and one on the other seeker, but it was difficult; he didn't want to look directly at the snitch in case Malfoy saw where he was looking. He also didn't want to look like he was avoiding looking at an area for the same reason, _and_ he had to be careful to not lose sight of the snitch. Harry slowly closed the gap between the snitch and himself. He was close to it now, just a little more to overcome the 2001's slight speed and acceleration advantage.

Then Malfoy turned towards the Slytherin goal and the snitch and started to accelerate. Harry pushed his own broom to its highest speed and the two of them sped towards the snitch. The chase was on.

Malfoy had a bigger distance to cover but not much of one, and with the broom advantage got to the snitch first. The tiny ball darted away from him as though his life depended on it. Of course, as it was enchanted to act like the Golden Snidget, a magical bird that was hunted to near extinction by being crushed to death by the people who caught them, acting like its life was on the line was exactly what it was supposed to do.

The two of them chased the winged ball as it wove between the goal posts and players. Both Harry and Malfoy had to dodge a bludger that Harry suspected came from a Slytherin beater; the twins were too good to send a bludger at Malfoy that would hit Harry it Malfoy managed to avoid it.

While Draco's broom was faster, Harry was reacting quicker to the snitch's change of direction so he was flying a shorter distance. In fact, Harry was somehow reacting at the same time as the snitch. If it turned left, so did Harry at exactly the same moment. Harry was confused as to how he could know where the snitch would go at the same time as the little ball moved. The ball dove down towards the pitch and the two seekers followed.

As Harry dove after the snitch, for a split second the sun was directly over his shoulder and hit the snitch with a blinding flash from the mirrored gold surface. For just a moment, the little golden ball was nothing but a white circle on a green background; Harry was reminded of Hedwig's games of follow-the-leader in the air currents around the towers.

Then it clicked. That was how he knew what the snitch was going to do. Brooms and other magical ways of flying didn't concern themselves with air currents, winds, or even wings. The snitch, though, was enchanted to move like a Snidget. And while the Snidget was a magical creature, it was still a bird. Birds used air currents to fly. Harry had been subconsciously following the air currents just like he did when he flew with Hedwig!

Harry followed the snitch as it dove straight down. It would have to change direction soon or it would pull a Malfoy and crash into the pitch. But which way would it go? Suddenly, Harry was struck with inspiration and looked not at the snitch but the grass below it. What direction was it blowing in? It was difficult to make out but he could just about tell.

Harry corkscrewed as he dove and started to pull up just a little in the right direction. Malfoy edged ahead a little but then the snitch changed direction and practically flew into Harry's outstretched hand. His fingers tightened around the snitch and he pulled up, holding the flying ball over his head as the stadium erupted in noise.

They had done it! Finally, after three years of being on the team, in Captain Wood's last year, they had finally done it. The Quidditch Cup was theirs!

The next few hours were filled with the cup being presented to the team. Colin Creevey insisted on getting a photo of each of them holding the cup individually, as well as one with the whole team where Harry and Wood were holding up the cup. Practically every member of Gryffindor came up and congratulated them. Hermione's congratulations was the most enjoyable for Harry as it came in the form of her pulling him aside when he walked into the changing room, pushing him against the wall, and kissing him like her life depended on it. They kissed for what felt like mere moments, but it was long enough for the rest of the guys on the team to get impatient enough to ask her to leave so they could shower and change.

Then it was back to the common room for the biggest party Harry had ever been to in his entire life. Even Hermione, not normally one to party, got the gramophone Harry had gotten her for Christmas out, and the twins were able to get a veritable mountain of food from the kitchens. They were the centre of attention as they entertained the crowd with a play-by-play of the match from their perspective, as well as a number of simple pranks that were good-natured and got everyone laughing. They were all still having a great time until one o'clock in the morning, when professor McGonagall came in and kindly but firmly told them all it was time for bed.

**AN:**

_hey, everyone, I'm sorry its been taking me so long to upload. life has been getting in the way recently. between a few money issues and some long term health stuff (nothing dangerous) i just haven't had as much time to write. _

_but I'm still here and the fic is still alive._


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

After the Quidditch match, Gryffindor were riding high for a few weeks. Even the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had enjoyed the game, although they were disappointed that they had gotten so close to winning it themselves.

The Slytherins, however, were more angry and hateful as they had ever been. Some of the Slytherins had even taken to throwing low-powered nuisance jinxes at the Gryffindor Quidditch team between classes. It was mostly harmless; Harry had been hit with a few himself. Mostly they just led to Harry dropping any books he was carrying. He knew Katie Bell had to suffer a few bad hair days thanks to a few of the Slytherin girls in her year.

Even Daphne and Tracy had moaned about the outcome, but the two of them were always careful to direct their comments about Harry at the Gryffindor seeker. It was their subtle way of saying that the rivalry was confined to the subject of Quidditch, which was something Harry didn't mind. The rivalry was part of the game. He had more than enough conversions with Tracy to know that she took her support of Quidditch seriously. She was a big supporter of her home team, the Caerphilly* Catapults. According to her, from the age of four until she came to Hogwarts she had never missed a home game.

On the other end of the Slytherin spectrum of animosity was Draco Malfoy, who was livid at Harry for breaking his broom. He was taking every opportunity to try and hex Harry. Harry had been forced to dodge everything from Jelly-Legs Jinxes to a Slug Vomiting Hex. It had only stopped when Professor Lupin had caught Malfoy as he sent a Tripping Jinx at Harry while Harry was at the top of a flight of stairs. The week of detention had stopped Draco's use of spells but it hadn't stopped his mouth one bit.

Draco wasn't even the only Malfoy angry at him; Warlock Malfoy had sent Harry a letter and a bill. The bill was for G3,500, the cost of a new Firebolt. Harry had panicked a little when he did a conversation in his head and found that the bill was for almost £17,500. That was a ridiculous extreme amount to spend on a broom for school Quidditch. The letter had told him that if he didn't pay for the broom, that Warlock Malfoy would bring the dispute before the Wizengamot and sue for restitution.

After Harry had finished panicking over the idea that he would have to try and find that kind of money, he had sat down with Hermione to go over it. they had been doing so much research into Buckbeak's case that they had picked up quite a bit about wizarding law. They weren't anywhere near the level of a solicitor, or even a legal secretary. But they knew enough to suspect what Warlock Malfoy was trying.

They had taken the letter to Professor McGonagall, who had called in Madam Hooch. The flying instructor and referee floo'ed back to the school immediately. She had been out of the school, as all her responsibilities had already finished for the year; with the first years already having been taught how to fly and the Quidditch season over, there was little left for her to do at Hogwarts. After she had dusted the ash from her robes she had demanded to see the letter, in her no-nonsense way that Harry had come to respect over the years of her overseeing his games.

She quickly confirmed that while Malfoy could take this for arbitration before the Wizengamot, as was his right as the Warlock of House Malfoy, the chance that he would win such a case was laughable. In fact, as Harry had not only done nothing directly to Draco's broom but had done nothing outside of the rules at all, taking such a case before the Wizengamot was likely to do a lot of damage to House Malfoy's reputation. The warlocks of the Wizengamot were busy people and wouldn't take kindly to being pulled away from what they were doing because the Malfoy heir couldn't fly his broom properly.

Armed with that info Harry had sent a letter back to Warlock Malfoy inviting him to call for arbitration in front of the influential and busy warlocks of the Wizengamot so he could whine about how Draco didn't understand that flying into the ground at high speed was a bad idea.

No summons to arbitration ever arrived.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

With the Quidditch season over and the school year in its final stretch, focus turned to the end of year exams. There were only a few weeks until the school started with the exams and they would be expected to prove that their last year at Hogwarts wasn't a complete waste of time. The exams were broken up into groups: the first and second years together would go first taking up a week, then the third and fourth followed doing the same. The fifth, sixth, and seventh years each had their own week.

The sixth year would be the first of the three, then the fifth sitting their O.W.L. exams and lastly the seventh years with their N.E.W.T. exams. The standardized exams were put together at the end for two reasons. First, it meant that the external examiners could just come to the castle for two weeks instead of coming twice. The other reason was to give the students sitting the important external exams as much time to study and revise as possible.

Professor McGonagall had handed out the exam timetables the first day after half term. It was pretty much what he expected and nearly identical to Hermione's except for the obvious difference for his runes project evaluation and her arthmancy exam. Harry was a little surprised that his evaluation for his runes project was to be held on the last Saturday before the first and second years sat their exams. On one hand, he was happy to get it out of the way so soon. On the other hand, though, he was anxious about how well he would do.

Harry wasn't normally one to worry about exams his first few years at Hogwarts he never considered how important the results could be for his future. It didn't help that in his first year he had been more concerned with the Philosopher's Stone, and in the second year he was completely focused on Hermione, not studying at all before Dumbledore cancelled the exams.

Harry and Hermione were not the only people studying flat out, most of the other students were as well. Things had gotten rather tense in the Gryffindor common room. The fifth and seventh years were completely on edge. It wasn't uncommon for one of them to throw a silencing charm at anyone who made what they considered to be too much noise.

One memorial occasion saw Ron silenced, placed in a full body bind, taken up to the third year boys' dorm, and dumped on his bed for the rest of the night. This was done by Ron's brothers after Ron had been whining at the twins for them to take advantage of the good weather and go play some Quidditch with him. It had been Fred and George who had silenced and bound him, and after a quick investigation Percy had concluded that Ron was too much of a disturbance to everyone's studying and had floated him up to his bed.

Harry was a little surprised that the twins were putting so much effort into studying for their exams but got his answer when he mentioned it to Hermione. "Well they are unable to do anything else. Remember the Notice-me Potion we brewed? Well, I forgot about it after the incidents first with Warlock Malfoy getting Draco's Quidditch ban overturned and then the cage threat that Warlock Malfroy made. after that it was LeStrange's second attack I was too worried about you, Neville and myself to think about pranks. Then when Draco got the firewood-" Harry couldn't help but laugh at that again, after the match the Gryffindors had taken to calling Malfroy's Firebolt "firewood", as that was all it was good for after the match. "I figured that you would prefer to have the twins focus on practice as much as possible. I finally slipped them a dose each after the quidditch match. And since then Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Flitwick, as well as Percy, Katie, and Angelina have given them a hard time whenever they slack off."

Harry had sympathized with the twins. He didn't know if it was just because he spent so much time with his academically inclined girlfriend who liked to push him to do better, or if it was because this year he had put in a lot of effort in his school work and wanted that to be recognised. Or maybe it was that without hanging around Ron and being distracted all the time he was just focusing more. Maybe it was even that he now had adults in his life who would care about his results. Whatever the case, he was definitely more worried about doing well this year, and that had led to him studying a lot harder than previous years.

But it wasn't as though he was sitting his exams without distraction this year eather. This year he had an escaped convict actively trying to kill Neville, Hermione and himself. He and Hermione were also still preparing for Buckbeak's appeal. They had finally gotten the date for the hearing, it was going to be held in the afternoon on the day of his and Hermione's last exam. They had their Transfiguration practical in the morning and the trial would be held at Hogwarts about an hour after lunch, in of the disused classrooms on the third floor.

The notice from the Ministry that Hagrid had shown them also said who was coming to the school to represent the Ministry. There was a Director Diggory who was in charge of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Harry wondered if he was a relation of Cedric. Minister Fudge and his undersecretary Dolores Umbridge would also be in attendance. Harry remembered the toad-like woman from the last time he met her, mostly for the looks she shot at Hermione. And lastly, there was a Walden Macnair, for the Department for Disposal of Dangerous Magical Creatures. They were sending an executioner to the trial.

"But why would they send an executioner to the trial, that makes it sound as though they already decided what the outcome will be! What is the point of a trial if the outcome is already decided before we get a chance to present our case? It's nothing but a veneer so that it looks like a fair process..." Hermione had gone on a long rant when she read the notice, during which Harry had just stood there listening, then gave her a hug when she finally ran out of steam. Part of being the boyfriend of the brightest witch of their age was being there for her when she got worked up like that.

Time seemed to be conspiring against Harry and Hermione. Just when they wanted time to slow down and give them time to study it seemed to speed up just to spite them. It seemed to take no time at all for Harry's assessment for his runes project to come around. The night before Harry was going over his notes again even though he knew them by Hart at this point.

The assessment had three parts to it. First was a written description of what he had created and what it was for, with details on how he did it. He had already submitted that to professor Babbling so that she could read it through before the final two parts tomorrow. At that time, he would have to do a presentation and demonstration of what he had created. The presentation would be followed by a question-and-answer session where the three examiners could ask him any questions about the project that they wanted answered.

Harry was allowed to recruit other students to help with the demonstrations if he needed, so after a quick discussion with Hermione about what help he needed she had agreed to help by being, as she phrased it, "the magician's lovely assistant". The two of them had a good laugh at the idea of a real wizard pretending to be a Muggle magician before Hermione had pushed them back into the books.

With it being the night before his assessment and a Friday, Harry was of two minds. It was his assessment tomorrow, and he wanted to go over his notes again just to be 100% sure that he was ready. However, Friday nights were reserved for him and Hermione to relax. He didn't want to disappoint Hermione, and with how on edge he was about tomorrow he could use a relaxing evening. He would wait and see what Hermione said. She might expect him to spend the evening with his nose glued to his notes, his girlfriend was absolutely brilliant but she did obsess over exams, to the point that she got more stressed in their first year over their exams than she did while stopping Voldemort from getting the Philosopher's Stone.

\- nsfw

Hermione had decided that Harry would honor their date night. It turns out that when Hermione made a schedule she wanted to stick to it as closely as possible. Even when it was planned relaxing. According to her you still needed to relax a little or you could burn out, and if you plan that time beforehand you don't get stressed out thinking of what you should be doing when you take an unscheduled break. It made some sense to harry. At least it did this year. Hermione had said something similar in their first year but as Harry hadn't been as worried about his grade that year he hadn't gotten stressed when he didn't revise.

Once she had dragged him to the room of requirement, Hermione had pushed him onto the sofa and then pinned him to it by climbing on top of him and straddling his waist. As Harry gazed up at his girlfriend he couldn't help but think how amazing she was, and that if she slid down just a little she would be in a much more fun position.

Harry's thoughts about where Hermione should sit were soon driven right from his head as she leaned forward, pressing her body into his. When their heads met, her lips connected with his, and then nothing else matters. All thoughts about his runes project, his exams, even Buckbeak's case were driven from his head like a bottle of shampoo would drive Snape out of a room. All that mattered to him was the bright and beautiful witch that was currently gently biting down on his lower lip while she directed his hand to her chest.

Despite the clothes Hermione was still wearing, Harry could feel her boob yield to his probing touch. The more he pressed and rubbed, the more passionate and energetic Hermione's kissing got, wordlessly encouraging Harry to go further. Hermione's hands were not idle either. Harry shivered as he felt her slightly cool hands on his almost fever-warm skin as she slid her hands under his t-shirt, pushing it up and exposing more of his skin to the air as well as her exploring touch.

Harry used his other hand and started to undo the buttons on Hermione's blouse, starting with the button that was level with her collarbone. He wanted to kiss the newly exposed skin but he would have to move to reach it with his lips and Hermione still had him pinned to the soft sofa. He undid the next button and the pendant he had given her for Christmas swung free of where it had been hidden under her clothing. He knew Hermione almost never took it off, she even spelled it to repel water so that she didn't need to take it off in the shower. Harry loved that she kept it so close.

His hand continued to undo the rest of the buttons on Hermione's blouse, exposing more of her to his gaze. It was strange he had seen her in just a bikini on Valentine's Day, yet for some reason seeing her with her shirt open with her pale blue lacy bra on display felt more intimate, even though she had exposed more than she was showing now.

Hermione took her hands off his chest for a few moments as she shrugged off her blouse and pulled his t-shirt off him. Then her hands returned to their exploration of his chest. She kissed his neck and chest, her ears tickling his chin a little.

Harry tended to think of himself as scrawny, but Hermione obviously didn't think of him that way, judging by how she pressed herself against him and doing all she could to touch as much of him as possible without resorting to the removal of more clothes.

Hermione shifted a little, pressing her chest into his. Harry thought about trying to unhook the bra that was the only thing above the waist between the two of them, but the shift had caused their position on the sofa to become unstable. Harry shifted his right leg, the one on the outside of the sofa, so that his knee was pointed at the ceiling and his foot was against his ass.

Harry hadn't noticed as he did it, but his leg came up between Hermione's, his thigh now pressed against her suggestively. Harry was just about to apologize for going too far when Hermione wrapped her tail around his leg gently holding it in place then started to rub herself against him, causing Harry's mind to completely stall. Hermione moaned into his mouth, and in response Harry pressed his leg into her a little more, increasing the friction between them. Soon Hermione started to breath heavy and had to stop kissing him. Harry took the opportunity of his mouth being free to talk. "Mione-", he kissed her neck. "l-", he kissed her neck again lower this time. "Love you." His lips claimed the spot over her collarbone that he had noticed earlier.

He and Hermione continued their dance for a while longer until Hermione gasped and collapsed against him, her whole body taut. Harry would have been concerned if not for the look of bliss on his girlfriend's face. Instead he was just fighting off a blush as he pulled her in close and waited for her to be ready to talk. It took a few minutes but eventually the untidy mop of curly brown hair that was occupying his vision shifted and his girlfriends face was revealed. She looked nervous and embarrassed as she spoke. "Harry I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done…"

Harry cut her off by kissing her. Once he broke the kiss, he replied, "Mione you have nothing to be sorry for."

"But I shouldn't have..." her face went red and she couldn't say it. "Not without talking to you first."

"I'm completely OK with it Mione. I would have said something if I wasn't. You were so… I didn't want you to stop." Harry couldn't bring himself to tell Hermione how sexy he thought she looked.

Hermione shifted on top of him and Harry felt her press into him. Having Hermione let go on top of him had been the most erotic thing he had ever seen, and his response was predictable. One Hermione couldn't fail to notice.

Hermione thought for a few seconds before she put her hand on Harry's belt buckle. She looked at him while biting her bottom lip before asking "Can I?"

These two short words held far more meaning than two such simple words should. And the sight of her nibbling her bottom lip like that always drove him crazy. Did he want that? "YES" was reverberating inside his head but he didn't want Hermione to think she had to push herself. "Uh..." He paused looking for the right words. "You don't have to, you know, if you don't want to."

Hermione got one of her rare mischievous looks and asked. "And if I want to?" Her hand was now fiddling with the belt buckle. Harry didn't know how to answer. He knew what he wanted to say but the ability to speak seemed to have fallen from his head. "I need an answer Harry." She kissed his neck. "Can I?"

"Yes! God yes!" Harry was finally able to get the words out. Hermione undid his belt one-handed but needed to use both to undo the button on his trousers. As she once again claimed his lips, her hand slipped into his shorts.

End -nsfw

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry woke up the next day feeling _amazing_. He had just had the best night's sheep he could remember for a long time. It took a few minutes for the memory of what he and the amazing witch in his arms had done before getting to bed the night before.

He pulled his girlfriend's sleeping form tighter against him. He felt closer to her than ever now that they had taken another step in their relationship. He idly wondered, if he felt this good after last night's _inexperienced fumbling_, how amazing would it be when the two of them went all the way? Harry stretched, enjoying the feeling of Hermione's silky top against his bare chest and her fluffy tail that had wrapped itself around his pyjama clad legs. He quickly stilled though when he felt her starting to stir.

Hermione's instance that they stick to their date night was a good one. If she had let him keep going over his notes he would have continued until early this morning and wouldn't have gotten anywhere near as good a night's sleep. Now that he was facing his assessment after the night he did have, he didn't even want to consider what he would have been like alternatively.

"Harry?" a sleepy sounding Hermione asked from next to him.

"Morning beautiful." He kissed her neck. Hermione didn't particularly like kissing on the mouth before they had brushed their teeth in the morning.

"Morning Harry." She hesitated for a few seconds. "Did you sleep well last night?"

The way she asked the question made Harry think there was more to the question than regular morning conversation. "Love, please tell me you didn't do that last night just to get my mind off the assessment."

Hermione blushed a little. "Not just for that. I love you, you nob, and I have wanted to do that for a while." She let out a small huff of annoyance.

Harry kissed her neck again. "I. Love. You. Too." Harry punctuated each word with another kiss as he made his way along the area where her neck met her shoulder. "I just don't like the thought that you were making yourself uncomfortable, that you were forcing yourself for my benefit."

Hermione burst out laughing. Not the cute giggle he mostly heard from her since they started dating, this was closer to the side-splitting unladylike belly laugh that his and Ron's antics had gotten out of her in their first year. "Harry," she fought her laughter under control. "Harry, of the two of us, you are not the one who needs to worry about things like that." She wrapped herself around him as though now that she said it she was afraid he would run off. "I'm the one who is holding back so as to not be pushy."

Harry looked at her, trying to work out if she was lying. "Oh, don't give me that look. Remember that I am almost a year older than you. That may not sound like a lot, especially as Wix normally live to be over 100 years old. But when you consider that most people in the magical world go from not having even started puberty when they first enter Hogwarts to married by the age of twenty, a year is a big chunk of that."

Harry had to concede she had a point, but he still didn't like the idea of pushing her. He didn't want to ever make her uncomfortable or hurt her. When he told her that she brushed it off.

"Harry, as long as you stop when I ask you to do so, then everything is fine. I wouldn't be uncomfortable. Exploring each other's boundaries like that is a normal part of a healthy relationship. It's just a bit more complicated for us because this is both your first relationship and mine, we don't know ourselves yet and our boundaries are still developing. Something that is a hard no from one of us now might be something that we really like a year from now. We just need to trust each other that if we say we are not OK with something that the other will stop." Hermione had slipped into her lecture mode.

Unlike a lot of Hermione's diatribes, Harry found this one easy to follow, but it was just as thought provoking as normal . Did he trust Hermione to stop if he wanted her to? That was easy, his mind was shouting yes before he even finished the thought. This was Hermione; she hated that house elves don't have a choice in their own lives.

The next question to come to his head was did he trust himself to hold off, if the brilliant witch currently laying next to him asked him to stop. He thought about what it would be like to push her like that and got a sick twisted feeling in his gut. Even the thought of doing that to her was just wrong. He wanted their relationship to be something that they both enjoyed.

"And before you ask, Harry, Yes I trust you." She climbed out of the large king sized bed that the room had supplied, she picked up her robes from the bedside table where she had put them the night before, and made her way towards the door. "I'm gonna use the bathroom and get changed first." With that she slipped out of the cozy bedroom.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry passed back and forth in front of Hermione, engrossed in his notes. She had given up trying to keep Harry calm and just sat next to the door to the runes classroom going over her transfiguration notes. The exams were only a few weeks away and she needed to study too. The classroom was where Harry's assessment was about to be held. Inside the room the three professors that were acting as examiners were already waiting for the right time to begin the evaluation.

The first professor was of course Professor Babbling, as the runes professor she was to be one of the three judges. The other two would be a surprise as no-one had told them who the other two would be. Hermione suspected that one of them would be Professor McGonagall as Harry's head of house, but the third could be any of the teachers. Maybe there was a professor who was good with runes even if they taught something else.

After a few more minutes the door opened and Professor Babbling spoke from behind it. "We are ready for you now, Mr. Potter. Do you have everything you need?"

Hermione rolled her eyes as Harry quickly rummaged through his bag and went over all his stuff again. "Yes professor, I have everything." Of course he did. He had already checked five times so far today that she had seen. She suddenly felt Harry's complaints about her study habits. Watching Harry as he kept going over again and again stressing over what she knew he had already memorised and checked was not exciting. She had almost told him to relax and that everything would be fine until she remembered Harry telling her that exact thing a number of times. The irony was not lost on her that despite how often she had wanted Harry to take his grades seriously and study harder, that now that she had gotten her wish she was worried about the stress Harry was putting on himself.

"OK, come on in then, both of you." The professor invited them into the room with a smile on her face. Hermione put her notes in a hand bag and followed Harry in. The layout of the room had been changed. All the student desks and chairs were gone and Professor Babbling's desk had been expanded so that the three teachers could comfortably sit at it. Professor Babbling sat back in her chair in the middle, on her left was Professor McGonagall waiting for Harry to set everything up. Unfortunately, on her right was Professor Snape with his regular scowl on his face as he looked at Harry. Hermione wasn't happy to see him but with Professor McGonagall in the room he was at least unable to treat Harry like he normally would.

Hermione looked around the empty classroom to see what was there. The only things in the space were a privacy screen that she had requested for the part she was to play, a lectern for Harry to keep his notes on, and a chair for her to use while she wasn't helping Harry. She watched as Harry, unhappy with the presence of Professor Snape, set up his notes on the lectern and set out his finished prototypes.

"We are ready when you are, Mr. Potter. You may begin when ready." Professor Babbling said when it looked like Harry was about ready.

Harry took a steadying breath and walked to the desk that the professors were sitting at, placing two drawstring bags in front of them before returning to the lectern.

"Right so.. uh…" Harry hesitated at first but quickly found his feet. "So at the beginning of the year, my original plan was to expand on the hairband and tail hiding sock that Professor Babbling talked me through creating at the end of last year. These were for Hermione to hide her additional features that threaten the Statute of Secrecy. And while I have done that, I also had a second idea that I will also be presenting today. If you could please open the red bag, professor, and take out the items inside."

Professor Babbling did so and removed a thick black hairband and a matching drawstring bag that was ridiculously proportioned, the opening was about four inches in diameter yet the back itself was only about half an inch deep. If Hermione didn't already know exactly why it was that way, she would have found the bag extremely odd.

"The items you have there are what I came up with. Hermione, if you would come here please." She got up and went over to him. He handed her another of the hair bands, although this one was green. "The first feature I would like to demonstrate is the chameleon feature. As you can see, this hairband-" he indicated the one in her hand, "is not really suitable for the outfit she is wearing. When activated-'' he motioned to Hermione. She pressed her thumbs into the inside ends of the hairband and then pressed the outside of the item to the red liner of her Gryffindor school robes. The hairband immediately changed to take on the colour and texture of the liner.

"-it will enable the user to mimic the look of any fabric touched to it while the activation runes are being held." He continued, "Hermione could you please show it with a few other bits of fabric please?" She did first the black outside of her robes, then she walked over and mimicked Professor McGonagall's tartan shawl and lastly she pulled a pale blue lacy handkerchief from her pocket and had the hairband mimic that.

"The next improvement that I can show you is the ear illusion. Hermione?" Harry asked. She knew what he wanted her to do, Harry had talked her through it six times. Hermione put on the hairband and pulled back her hair so that the professors had a good view of the side of her head. "As you can see this rune aray will add a pair of illusionary normal ears to the side of the wearer's head." Harry explained. Hermione looked at the professors, who so far didn't look impressed. They were interested and taking notes but it didn't look like Harry had done enough yet.

"The tricky part about this feature was to anchor the illusion to the correct spot on Hermione's head rather than directly to the hairband. This was more complicated, requiring a mixture of three consecutive arrays. One to hold the image of ears that are modeled after photos of her original ears, one to project the image, and a last one to direct the image to the right place on her head," Harry explained. Professor Babbling seemed to have understood where Harry's explanation was going, even if the other two hadn't yet. "The result of this is that if the hairband was to shift slightly," Hermione demonstrated, "the illusion won't move from the spot on her head." When the professors saw the ears remain still even when the object that held the rune arrays moved, both Professor Babbling and Professor McGonagall sat up straight, far more interested.

"Then there are the hidden features. If you could fit an ear into the concealed pockets that were a part of Professor Babbing's original design, you would notice that they muffle sounds making it harder to hear. In Hermione's case this was not much of a problem, her larger feline ears are more sensitive and compensate for the loss. This set of runes, however, will boost the volume for the wearer and allow them to hear as much as they normally would. This feature can be activated and deactivated, as at parties, Quidditch matches, or in other large groups, people can be uncomfortably loud.

"The next set of enchantments are on both the hairband and the tail sock. If you slide a finger inside one of the pockets you will find that they are at a comfortable temperature. The expanded space is always kept at twenty degrees Celsius, a temperature chosen by Hermione as comfortable for her. It would be easy enough to set them at different temperatures if I was to make something like this for someone else. The pockets are also self-cleaning, vanishing all dirt, sweat, and loose cat hair. They are also water-repelling so that the hidden extremities remain dry even if the wearer was to go swimming." Professors Babbling and McGonagall were looking impressed.

Hermione could understand that the individual enchantments were mostly middle of the road. There was some academic interest in how he designed each runic array to get the effect, as runes was one of those things that had a lot of different ways to do something. What Harry had managed to do that was impressive was layer a large number of magical effects in such small items.

"The last modification is for the tail sock. I changed the design of the drawstring bag so that it there is no longer a detectable stump, so that the tail sock is more compatible with Muggle fashion for women, which is more form-fitting and would make such a lump stand out. Hermione, if you would please."

Hermione was just about to take her bag and step behind the privacy screen when professor McGonagall spoke up. "That quite alright, Miss Granger. I think we will take Mr. Potter's word on this, rather than have you change in the classroom."

"Are you sure that's wise Minerva? I wouldn't put it past Mr. Potter to be lying and make up an extra feature that he knows would be awkward to demonstrate, just to get a few easy points." Snape was looking directly at Harry as he accused Harry of cheating without any evidence or formally making an accusation.

Hermione knew that accusing someone of cheating in a test at Hogwarts would result in an investigation by the heads of house. If the person was found to be cheating they would get a zero for the test and whatever punishment the teachers deemed necessary. If, however, the student was found to have not cheated, the instigator would have to say what they saw to make the accusations. If Snape accused Harry of cheating, he would have to justify that accusation. As the only justification he had was his own opinion on Harry, then he would not finish looking good.

"I can just go put it on. I don't mind." Hermione picked up her bag and made her way to the privacy screen.

Snape's voice stopped her in her tracks as she turned back to look at him. "And how do we know you aren't applying additional spells to yourself behind the screen?" Hermione was starting to get annoyed. Snape was just trying to make things harder for Harry, looking for any excuse to lower Harry's mark. She was just glad she knew how to deal with this one.

She turned to Professor McGonagall who was shooting dark looks at the male professor. "Professor McGonagall, would you please join me behind the privacy screen? You can confirm that I don't use any additional magic. That is, of course, unless Professor Snape thinks you would be less than completely honest?" She knew she was pushing it a little with that last line, but the dark looks that now both the women behind the desk where giving the potions professor gave her confidence that she could get away with it.

Professor McGonagall stood up. "If you are comfortable with that, Miss Granger, then I have no objection. Mr Potter, you will remain by that lectern unless you want to find yourself in detention." Professor McGonagall stood and joined Hermione as he walked behind the privacy screen. Quickly Hermione pulled a pair of cycling shorts from her bag and began removing her robes. She had chosen the cycling shorts because they were form fitting. This way, once she had the sock on her tail she could preserve her modesty while showing how well the sock worked. Well, she could preserve most of her modesty, the professors (mostly Snape) would still be staring at her ass.

One problem Harry had not solved was putting on the sock. There were a number of reasons; where her tail was located that made it difficult to Manoeuvre the little drawstring bag over it. Sliding the sock over her tail also meant going against the growth direction of her fur, which was a little uncomfortable. The main reason, though, was that Hermione had just not mentioned that it was a problem to Harry.

A few minutes later she was ready. She had also put on the hairband concealing her ears and changed her top to a periwinkle blue t-shirt so that apart from her dragon hide boots and her wand holster on her arm she looked completely muggle. She and Professor McGonagall walked back out where everyone else could see them, and once the professor had re-taken her seat they started again. "I confirm that Miss Granger did no additional magic. The concealment is completely from the tail sock we are assessing." Her tone was completely professional, despite the scathing looks she kept shooting Professor Snape.

"As we need to assess the concealment, can you please turn around, Miss Granger?" Professor Babbling asked. Hermione blushed a little as she complied. If it wasn't for Harry's assessment she would never do this. It was one thing to let Harry stare at her ass on occasion. She knew full well why Harry sometimes walked behind her as she climbed a set of stairs. Him doing that made her feel desirable, wanted. All she felt now was judged. It was silly even then, they weren't judging _her_, they were judging Harry's work.

"Miss Granger, may I ask why you chose such form-fitting clothes for this assessment?" Professor Babbling asked, curiosity clear in her voice. "Surely something more loose would offer more concealment?"

Hermione turned back around to face the professors. "I thought that these shorts would allow you to see just how well the sock works. As the point of the sock is to conceal the changes I underwent from the non-magical world, then Muggle fashion would need to be accounted for and current trends in Muggle women's fashion are to the form-fitting clothes," Hermione explained. Professor Babbling nodded, making some notes on the parchment in front of her.

Harry flicked through his notes, checking something before speaking. "OK, those are all the features in the concealment project. We can do the Q&A for that now if you like, or I can move on to the second project and we can do both Q&A's after that." After a quick round of conversation between the professors, it was decided that they would do the first Q&A now so that no-one would lose track of which project brought about their question.

Hermione excused herself to get changed back into her robes while Harry answered a question on how he had fit such complicated rune arrays on such small items. While Harry explained his tactic of enlarging an item before he applied the runes so that he had the space he needed, Hermione slipped back into her school uniform. She decided to keep on the tail sock and the cycling shorts. The temperature was warming up, and while it was too warm for tights now it was still a little chilly to go without and the cycling shorts under her skirt were a comfortable compromise.

It took them over fifteen minutes to question Harry, most of them were technical questions from Professor Babbling. Harry had answered them well from what Hermione could tell. Then Harry moved on to the summoning rings.

"OK, so if you could remove the sample rings from the golden pouch please." Professor Babbling did so. "These are my wand summoning rings. They allow a wearer to wandlessly and silently summon their wand to their hand. Allow me to demonstrate, if you would. Hermione?" This was going to be a much more fun demonstration than the hairband and tail sock. Hermione didn't hesitate as she drew her wand, pointed it at Harry, and cast _**expelliarmus**_.

Harry's wand went flying out of his hand and landed across the room. Harry though, instead of going to pick it up, just caught it from mid-air when it suddenly reversed direction and flew back at him. Then, as fast as she had ever seen, Harry cast his own disarming charm and had her wand flying across the classroom. Harry caught it again, his seeker reflexes helping him, but then he threw her wand out the window.

Professor McGonagall looked angrily at Harry throwing another student's wand out a window. But her anger only lasted a few seconds as Hermione caught the wand as it came flying back through the window. She pointed it at Harry for a second time, only this time she didn't cast. She held her pose for a few seconds, clearly showing the professors that the wand was in a casting position, before she slipped her wand back into her holster.

"The rings work on a paired ring system. the user ring will summon its partner ring that is worn on the wand. Any questions?" Harry spent the next half hour answering all sorts of questions, from "Why a ring on the wand?" to more technical questions asking about range of summoning and velocity of the travelling wand. Hermione, who was no longer needed, decided to pull out her charms notes and begin reviewing them for her upcoming exams. Normally she would be more interested in Harry's projects but she had gone over it all with him herself, enough that she could probably do his presentation for him. No, her time was better spent preparing.

_-__**ϟϟϟ**__-_

Harry collapsed into one of the sofas in the common room. He thought that the assessment had gone well but it was exhausting. He had stood there for almost two hours. Two hours of trying to remember every little thing about his projects and to present them well. It hadn't been fun. Hermione had wanted him to go to the library with her so that they could revise for the upcoming exams, but Harry had turned her down. After the assessment, he needed to relax and decompress for a few hours.

Hermione was disappointed but understood. He had asked her if she wanted to just sit with him in the common room, but Hermione, being Hermione, had opted to study. This close to exams he hadn't expected anything different. He was lucky she had agreed to help him so much with his assessment. Maybe he would join her in an hour or so once he had a chance to rest a bit.

Hermione found him later that evening fast asleep on a common room sofa.

Note:

Caerphilly* is a large town just north of the city of Cardiff in South Wales UK. It is notable for having a large castle in the center of the town, being the birthplace of the Comidian Tommy cooper. It's also my hometown.

I decided to place Tracy's home in Caerphilly for a number of reasons.

One it's in Wales and there are a lot of Davises living there.

Two, the Caerphilly Catapults are mentioned in Quidditch Through the Ages. So canonically there is a Wix community there.

Three, I wanted her to have a different quidditch team than the Holyhead Harpies. I mean seriously, every fic I read if a witch likes Quidditch her team is the Harpies, it gets boring.

Four I live in Caerphilly so if I ever want to take the fic to Tracy's home then I can very easily add details. Like the fact that there is a really cool castle in the centre of town that does in fact have a working catapult on the grounds.


	40. Chapter 40

Hey everyone just a quick COVID-19 note before the chapter. I hope everyone is staying home as much as they can and keeping to the new social distance rules we all have to live under. Because I know just how unentertaining staying in and doing nothing can be, I am going to run some online D&D games using the free to play roll20 platform. If any of you are interested, the first game will be this Saturday at 8:00 British time. The first game will be character creation and we will talk about what day to play and what time. I will start by running the starter campaign for D&D 5E 'the lost mine of Phandelver' if you have never played D&D don't worry i am an experienced game master and my games are new-player friendly.

Players will require a free roll20 account (no card needed) and discord

If you are interested: (/) lfg (/)listing (/) 207552 (/)lost-mine-of-phandelver. Or (/) rabaksk

**Chapter 40**

The last two weeks going into their exams were notable only for disappearing into a fog of books, notes and revision. Nearly everyone was focused on their preparations, and while there were a few holdouts like Ron, who barely cracked open a book, any disturbance was swiftly removed from the common room. As such, he and a few of the first and second years were barely seen inside their common room, getting ejected every time for being too loud when others were trying to revise.

It wasn't Harry, Hermione, or any of the third years that kicked Ron out, despite Hermione _really _wanting to, rather it was all three of his brothers and their Gryffindor classmates. The students revising for their O. and N.E. were just too high-strung at the moment to put up with anyone disturbing them.

A few disagreements between the N.E.W.T students had even resulted in hexes flying across the common room from time to time. The seventh years were too stressed out and were snapping at everyone who disturbed them even for a few moments.

Harry had even been hit by a stray silencing charm that had been aimed at a particularly obnoxious first year who was getting into arguments with his own classmates.

Harry had almost gotten into a massive fight with another N.E.W.T student when she started on at Hermione for turning the pages of her text book too loudly. Honestly, he was lucky that Percy had stepped in, as he wasn't going to stand down when someone was being unfair to Hermione, but LeAnn Swift was known for being one of the top students in D.A.D.A currently attending Hogwarts. As good as Harry was at defence, her four more years of education would give her a big advantage if it had come to wands.

Percy had agreed that LeAnn was being unreasonable. Hermione was one of the quietest most studious people at the school, let alone in Gryffindor, which was typically the house of those that were loud and boisterous.

It wasn't like Hermione couldn't be as loud and direct as any of them when she felt like it, she was a force of nature whenever she was tackling something she saw to be unjust, but she tended to keep quiet and study unless something big happened.

The only times not spent revising were now dedicated to finalizing their case for Buckbeak's trial, or doing their Friday trips to the Room of Requirement. Harry was very happy that the room could make two entirely separate rooms for privacy, because after a conversation with Daphne and Tracy, with the two of them saying how high strung they were at the moment with the approaching exams, the girls were now joining them on Fridays for their own dates.

As neither Harry nor Hermione were willing to explore the recent step up in the physical side of their relationship in the Gryffindor dorms, the loss of privacy on their date night would have been extremely frustrating.

Harry was convinced that it was only the new level of closeness that he and Hermione had achieved that was keeping them sane. The stress of the exams was oppressive. He was finally starting to understand how Hermione could be such a nag about school work. She was doing all the stressing for herself, Harry and until recently, Ron as well.

Harry was a little surprised that Ron hadn't made up with them by now. He was more than a little hurt that the person whom he considered his first real friend, and had been one of the most important people in Harry's life, had thrown away their friendship so easily over a pet; a pet that Mione and Crooks had nothing to do with going missing. Yes, Crooks had chased the rat during the first few days of term, but Hermione had done everything possible to keep Crooks away from Scabbers over the course of the year.

The first and second years had their exams first, which was good for everyone else. Even the least studious of them dove into their books during that week, making it the quietest week Harry had ever experienced in the Gryffindor common room (apart from the Christmas holidays, when almost all of Gryffindor went home to their families).

The next week, however, during the third and fourth year exams, the first and second years were experiencing their end of exams relief. This meant that people like Demelza Robins, Colin Creevey, Ginny and a whole host of others that Harry couldn't begin to name were suddenly very interested in the fun, noisy, and disruptive pursuits that they had put off over the last few weeks in order to revise.

Harry and Hermione found a little respite from the noisy hordes by spending their time between exams not in the crowded common room, but taking their books out onto the now sunny grounds. They would find a nice spot and the two of them would sit quizzing each other for a few hours. The exams themselves were split, there would be two theory exams in the morning and one practical in the afternoon.

The exams were a strange experience for Harry. He thought that perhaps the exams themselves had gotten easier, it wasn't that they were a breeze, but he had a lot less trouble with them than he had in his first two years.

When he asked Hermione if she thought that they were easier, she had laughed in obvious joy before she calmed down and told him, "It's not that the exams are easier Harry, it's because you took your work seriously this year. Questions are always easier if you know the answer."

Hermione's explanation definitely fit, but Harry was still surprised that it made so much of a difference. Who knew studying could have such a big effect?

Harry breezed through his Runes and D.A.D.A. exams, with the obstacle course that Professor Lupin had set up for their practical a lot of fun. Hermione had a little problem with the Bogart at the end, which had apparently shown Bellatrix LeStrange killing Harry and their friends. Hermione had known it was a Boggart, but faced with such a sight she was unable to picture something funny to force on to the shape shifter.

Harry had struggled in a few subjects; History of Magic was a real slog as was Astronomy. While he kind of liked the class, Harry had a little trouble remembering which name went with which star. The rest of his exams were a mixed bag and Harry would have to see how they turned out when he got his results in the summer.

_**-ϟϟϟ-**_

Friday afternoon arrived, along with a mix of attitudes among the third years. Some were letting off a little steam, having finished the last of their exams that morning, while others were anxiously studying for their Divination exam that afternoon. Harry and Hermione, however, were anxious for a completely different reason as they ate their lunch.

Seated at the staff table with the teachers and the headmaster were four people from the Ministry of Magic, along with Lucius Malfoy. Two of the ministry people were known to the two teens on sight; Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge and Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge.

The other two could only be Director Amos Diggory of the Department for Control of Magical Creatures, and Walden McNair from the Department for the Disposal of Dangerous Magical Creatures.

It was easy to tell which was which with those two; one of them had a strong resemblance to a certain Hufflepuff seeker who had saved Harry earlier in the school year, while the other was wearing a bloody huge axe on his back, something that wasn't common for normal wizards to have. The one who was most definitely Mr. Diggory kept looking over at the Hufflepuff table, directly at the younger Diggory.

It was less than an hour now until the start of Buckbeak's appeal. Harry and Hermione had a plan that they hoped would give the Hippogriff a chance. They quickly finished their lunch of cold cuts and salad and left the main hall to collect what they needed.

The appeal trial was held in a disused classroom on the ground floor. Officially, the room was for the use of the Care of Magical Creatures classes, but both Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn had preferred a more hands-on teaching method. This meant the room was left unused and was available.

Harry and Hermione joined up with a group walking into the temporary trial room. The people from the Ministry were already inside with Warlock Malfoy and Draco when Hagrid's group walked in.

While the group from the Ministry were all looking well-dressed and imposing, Hagrid's group looked like something from a fever dream. Hagrid was towering over everything, wearing an ugly brown suit that Harry had never seen before (and secretly hoped that he wouldn't see again for a long time). Dumbledore was wearing robes that fit his regular fashion sense, in this case an eye-watering mix of lilac and sunflowers. Harry and Hermione looked the most normal, both wearing their school robes.

It was the last two people in the room, both sitting innocently in the corner, that drew the most attention from everyone. One of the two looked exceptionally normal and uninteresting except for the large camera hung around his neck.

The other, though, was a witch who seemed to have not realized how many birthdays she had had. The woman, while looking good for her age, was evidently in her mid-forties, maybe even her early fifties.

The bright acid green robes she was wearing, while in no way inappropriate, were definitely designed with a witch maybe half her age in mind. It was not the witch's apparel, however, that shook the group.

It was her reputation.

Rita Skeeter, journalist, gossip columnist, and author of many takedown pieces, was not someone they had expected to be at the hearing.

"M-Miss Skeeter, what a _pleasant _surprise. I didn't know you would be here," Fudge quickly covered his stammer as he addressed the reporter.

"Ah, Cornelius. This is a surprise indeed, it's a little unusual for the minister to attend an appeal for a dangerous magical creature, is it not? I have an appointment with Mr. Potter here scheduled for after this little soirée; the public has been looking forward to hearing from the Boy-Who-Lived for years, and I finally convinced Mr. Potter to give me an interview. I'm just a little early and this little matter is the only thing that may interest my readers while I wait for Mr. Potter to be available," The smile never left Miss Skeeter's face, but to Harry it looked cold, almost predatory.

Most of what Miss Skeeter said to Fudge was completely true; only a few points had stretched the truth. Harry _did _have an interview scheduled with her after the hearing, but it had been Hermione who had contacted the Daily Prophet about the interview. Originally, when Hermione had proposed the idea of using Harry's fame to bring in the press, he had been against it.

But, he quickly came to realise that Buckbeak didn't stand a chance against a Ministry that had been bought off by Warlock Malfoy. After Buckbeak had saved his life when he rescued Harry from LeStrange, he really did owe it to the Hippogriff to do everything he could to return the favour.

After he had agreed, Hermione had contacted Miss Skeeter through the Daily Prophet and arranged everything. The idea was that with the press there, it would be a lot harder for the Ministry to just ignore the arguments and evidence that Hagrid's team were going to present.  
It wouldn't guarantee a win, but it would give them a fighting chance. The only guarantee in the whole affair was that Harry would be giving an interview. It was a steep price for Harry, but he would gladly pay it for Hagrid and Buckbeak's sake.

"Well I certainly look forward to reading it. Your interviews are always quite illuminating Miss Skeeter. As to why my undersecretary and I are here for this matter, an appeal like this requires a triad to pass judgment and, as such noteworthy parties such as Warlock Malfoy and Hogwarts are involved, I thought it best that my office oversees this matter. Just to make sure everything goes smoothly, you understand," Harry could see why the Minster was such a good politician. In a few words, he had flattered Rita Skeeter and made his being there look like concern for the integrity of the system.

Lucky for them, Miss Skeeter was not so easily misled, "Oh, I can see why you would be worried, Minister Fudge. If I recall, wasn't Warlock Malfoy one of the largest contributors to your election campaign? It wouldn't look well on you if he had a complaint that things were unfair. Then again, maybe you don't have to worry about money as much now. After all, the condemnation or the support of people who are held in high regard to the public can swing a lot of public opinion. Why, just think what an interview with, say, Mr. Potter here could do to your public image if the things he saw the Ministry do were in any way unfair."

Harry, Hermione, and Dumbledore watched as the Minister's complexion took on the colour of soured milk. Miss Skeeter's words had done more to level the playing field in a few seconds than Harry or Hermione had been able to in months of studying.

"Hum hum," The toad-like witch used a fake cough to draw everyone's attention, "As fascinating as this little academic discussion is, we are scheduled to begin our hearing. I'm sure we will have time to discuss such topics at length after we are done protecting the children here from such a dangerous monster," The undersecretary quickly showed that the Ministry wasn't bettered yet.

If it came to the media, the Ministry line of an overabundance of caution in keeping the students safe at school would play well with the public.

The Wix took seats in the room. Harry and Hermione sat towards the back with Rita Skeeter; they were to remain silent until they were called on. Harry was a little surprised that it was Director Diggory that led the hearing. Even though this was a case that fell under the purview of the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures, Harry had expected Minister Fudge to pull rank and lead the hearing.

Everyone listed as Director Diggory read out the charges and a bunch of information that was mostly only important for keeping records, such as dates, case numbers and names of everyone present. It was about as engaging as one of Professor Binns's lecturers. Thankfully, it was also a lot shorter.

They soon moved on to the meat of why they were there, and Warlock Malfoy made his opening statement, "Honoured Ministry officials, as much as it pains me, I must ask that you uphold the decision that was put in place at our previous hearing. Magic is everything, and as such every true magical life is sacred, even the lives of magical creatures. It is clear that asking for the extermination of such a magical creature weighs heavily on my heart.

However, after the Hippogriff in question viciously and with intent set upon my son, it reveals that even such noble creatures have the occasional bad seed. In the interest of my son and all the other students at this school, I implore you to please make sure that this danger to the future of magical Britain never sees another sunrise."

Malfoy's opening speech was eloquent and infuriating. Harry had felt Hermione stiffen next to him when he mentioned 'true magical lives'. It had taken Harry a moment to catch the meaning, but the Malfoy family's stance on Muggleborns was widely known. Harry couldn't believe he could get away with such a blatant blood purist statement right in front of the Minister of Magic.

Harry put a comforting arm around Hermione as he watched the three judges. Diggory was attentive to the points Malfoy was saying, occasionally scribbling something on a roll of parchment. Fudge was looking at Malfoy and nodding along with what the man said, but his eyes were glazed over.

It reminded Harry of the look most of the students got when they were able to stay awake in one of their History of Magic classes, where their minds wandered to wondering what they would have for lunch.

The overly girly toad, however, was barely paying attention to the speech. Instead, her focus was intently on Hermione, the exact same way it was in the hospital wing a few weeks ago. Harry really didn't like the looks she was giving his girlfriend. He couldn't place exactly why, but it really gave him the creeps.

Once Malfoy returned to his seat, it was Hagrid's turn.

The difference between Hagrid's speech and Malfoy's was like night and day. Malfoy's speech was well spoken and had a few well placed points that supported his position. Hagrid was never the most eloquent of speakers, and his approach was to speak from the heart and insist that "Beaky is a good boy."

Unfortunately, the biggest difference between the two speeches was that Malfoy's was effective. Harry wanted to blame the judges for being biased, but he had to admit to himself if he hadn't seen what happened with his own eyes then he would have probably voted with Malfoy's argument. Dangerous animals had no place in a school. Fluffy, Aragon and the basilisk had taught him that.

There was a little more procedure as they started introducing evidence. The Malfoys produced a medical record for Draco's injury, a copy of Hogwarts accident report that was written by Hagrid, and a witness statement by Pansy Parkinson. Hagrid entered both Harry and Hermione as witnesses, a copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_, another medical report, and a written statement from Madam Pomfrey.

The next half an hour seemed to be mostly wasted time as both sides tried to attack the credibility of the other's evidence. The two Gryffindors could understand how that could be important in a lot of cases, but in this case even Harry could see that all the evidence would be permitted.

It was all rather official documentation or someone saying what they personally saw. The only bit of evidence that didn't fit those categories was the copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them._ That was kept as an impartial source of information on Hippogriffs.

Once all that was done, Warlock Malfoy called on Draco to tell his side of the story. The Slytherin stood up with a smirk on his face and began recalling his side of the tale, "Well, it was our first ever Care of Magical Creatures class. When I selected the class last year, Professor Kettleburn still taught the subject and I was looking forward to it. Our first lesson with Hagrid-"

"Professor Hagrid," Dumbledore interrupted.

Draco gritted his teeth and continued, "Our first lesson with _Professor_ Hagrid was a joke. No classroom, no lecturers. No one in class had even opened their textbooks before class, as the book which he'd set; _The Monster Book of Monsters_ was charmed to try and bite anyone who tried to read it, and none of us had figured out how to calm the book.

Despite learning that we had no preparation for the class, the _professor _took us to a clearing just inside the _Forbidden Forest_. There were a number of Hippogriffs in a fenced off area of the clearing. Then, with no instructions, he had Potter ride one of the beasts and then told us to just do what Potter did. I tried to do that, I even approached the same Hippogriff Potter had ridden, it appeared friendly enough with him. Next thing I know the beast was attacking me. It slashed me with one of its claws, which gave me a deep nasty cut on my right arm that didn't heal properly for months."

Warlock Malfoy took over talking, "I refer now to the medical report I entered into evidence, 'Student Malfoy, Draco presented to the hospital wing with an eight inch long, two inch deep, laceration to his right forearm that cut though the flesh and muscle of said arm and exposed the bones.' These are not the injuries that a tame animal would inflict.

It seems to me that it is clear that the beast in question has gone feral and needs to be put down before it hurts another student," Malfoy Senior sat back in his chair. The smug look that both he and Draco shared showed that they both thought that they had won this already.

After being given permission from Director Diggory, Professor Dumbledore stood up and faced Draco, "Young Mr. Malfoy, I have a few simple questions for you," Dumbledore remained respectful and almost jovial even as Malfoy just looked at him coldly and nodded once, "Mr. Malfoy, you said that you approached the same Hippogriff that Mr. Potter here had just used, correct?"

Draco replied with a short, "Yes."

"Did the Hippogriff in question show any sign of violence or hostile intent to Mr. Potter during the demonstration?" Dumbledore asked.

"No. If it had been violent to Potter I would have not gone near it," Draco sneered at the question. While he never said it, the 'obviously' ending was evident in his tone.

"And what of the rest of the class with their Hippogriffs? Was there any hostility there?"

Draco hesitated before replying, "I was too focused on my own work to watch what was happening with everyone else," Harry suspected that to be a lie but he doubted anyone could prove it.

"Given that no-one else has complained about being attacked by a Hippogriff, do you think it's safe to assume that you were the only one who encountered a problem?"

Draco remained silent.

"I think that this shows you, Mr. Malfoy, to be the one at fault here. Clearly, none of the other students had trouble handling the school's Hippogriffs, and the Hippogriff we are discussing was quite amenable to students, as he demonstrated with Mr. Potter only minutes before."

Dumbledore then turned to Harry and Hermione, "Miss Granger, you were in the class during the incident, correct?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes Professor. I was in the class and saw the entire thing."

"Most excellent, can you please tell us your version of events?"

Hermione stood up, "Well, Professor Hagrid had just finished demonstrating with-" Hermione's eyes flicked to Harry for a second before she continued, "-Warlock Potter. He explai-"

"Hum-hum," the Undersecretary Umbridge tried to interrupt, but Hermione continued as though she hadn't heard.

"He explained about how to treat a Hippogriff with respect-"

"Hum-hum," the fake cough interrupted again.

"Do you have something to add, Delores?" Director Diggory asked, evidently getting frustrated with the Undersecretary's interruptions.

"Thank you, Director. I just wanted to ask the _girl_ what she means by referring to the boy as Warlock Potter," She stressed the word "girl" in a way that set Harry's teeth on edge, but Hermione once again acted as though she hadn't heard it.

"What do you mean when you ask, 'what do I mean'? Harry is a member of the House of Potter and, like his father before him, he received the title of Warlock, a title signifying that he is the Head of his House upon the passing of his father. This is an official Ministry hearing, so unless I am misinformed, we should refer to Warlock Potter with his formal title," Hermione explained calmly.

"Mr. Potter has not yet come of age. He has no grounds to use that title."

"I'm afraid I must disagree, Madam Undersecretary," Hermione replied, "Warlock Potter's age does preclude him from the _full_ rights of his title, such as voting for the next Minister of Magic, when such an election is called," Hermione then nodded to the Minister, "Which we hope won't be for some time," The minister smiled back at her, "Despite his lack of his full rights, though, the title of Warlock is still his."

The Minister spoke up, "The girl is quite right, Delores. And rather well-spoken as well. Potter does indeed, as the last of the Potters, hold the title of Warlock. And convention is to use full titles for Ministry hearings," Delores looked upset that Fudge had sided against her.

"All of this is beside the point. We are here to determine the fate of this Hippogriff and Miss Granger was telling us her recollection of the incident," He nodded for Hermione to continue.

"Thank you, Minister. As I was saying, Professor Hagrid had just finished informing us that Hippogriffs were proud animals with good manners; how we had to bow to them before anything else and that you had to maintain eye contact with them as they don't trust people whose eyes they can't see.

He then _clearly _told us that you should never insult a Hippogriff as they will attack you. And to quote the professor, 'them talons hurt.'

Draco approached Buckbeak, and after bowing to the Hippogriff and receiving a bow in return said, and I quote again, 'This is very easy, I knew it must have been, if Potter could do it. I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you? You ugly great brute?' Then, just like Professor Hagrid told us would happen if you insult a proud Hippogriff, Mr Malfoy found out that those talons do indeed hurt," Hermione finished and sat back down.

"Thank you, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said once Hermione had taken her seat, "All, or nearly all, magical animals and plants have a level of danger to them. That is why here at Hogwarts we take pains to teach our students how to handle the flora and fauna that they are likely to encounter in their lives. When a student fails to heed the instruction of their professor, they risk experiencing the dangers that we are trying to council them against. In such a circumstance it is not that the Hippogriff in question is a dangerous monster, it is just a Hippogriff that acted as any Hippogriff would in that situation."

Dumbledore sat back down. Director Diggory looked thoughtful at what he had heard, the Umbridge woman was looking down her nose at Dumbledore and the Minister still looked bored. The short leader of the Ministry had taken to fiddling with his lime-green bowler hat.

Warlock Malfoy stood back up, "You talk as though my son would know already how to handle a dangerous monster, but let's not forget that this was his first-ever Care of Magical Creatures lesson and the book he was told to buy was charmed to try and bite anyone who tried to read it. When was he supposed to learn how to handle this Hippogriff?" The elder Malfoy didn't look as calm any more.

Harry stood up and waited for Director Diggory to nod to him, "I would say that Draco was meant to learn how to handle a Hippogriff at the same time all the other students in the class and I did. By paying attention to the professor telling us only a few minutes before, Draco was asked to practice," Harry sat back down. He knew he was being argumentative but he wasn't going to just sit there and let Malfoy try to slip the blame from his son to Hagrid's teaching.

Dumbledore stood up once Harry was finished, "As to the coursebook being unreadable, that is hardly a defence in this case," He picked up the copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_, "This book is a first-year textbook that has been on every first year's required book list for a few decades. Miss Skeeter, could I beg a small favour of you on behalf of this proceeding? Would you please read out what it says about insulting a Hippogriff? The page is marked."

Miss Skeeter looked a little surprised at being asked to participate, even in such a small way, but quickly agreed. She took a few moments to stand and find the relevant passage, "As stated above, the Hippogriff is a proud beast, the pride of an eagle while mixed with the nobility of a horse shows not only in its bearing but how it behaves. Hippogriffs are known to spend a number of hours a day obsessing over their personal grooming. It is important to remember when dealing with these beasts that you must never do anything to mess up their carefully groomed appearance or to in any way reference their appearance as a negative. This will cause the Hippogriff to attack the offender."

Miss Skeeter closed the book and handed it back to the headmaster.

"As you can see, young Mr. Malfoy had ample access to the information he needed. He has had the book for almost three years now," Dumbledore returned to his seat, setting the book on the desk in front of him.

"This is all very interesting, but we are here to determine if the Hippogriff is dangerous. Nothing you have presented so far convinces me that the half breed in question is unlikely to attack another student," Umbridge spoke up.

Harry stood up, "Well, if that's not my cue nothing is. Dobby!" Harry called on his elf friend. He had originally asked Dobby to recommend another elf that could help, but the energetic little guy instead insisted on doing whatever Harry needed himself. Harry had tried to explain that Malfoy would be there, but Dobby refused to let anyone else do anything Harry wanted. He was determined to be the one to help.

The look on everyone's face when there was a knock on the door was only surpassed by the look they got when Harry opened the door and they saw what was on the other side.

Of the seven people at the hearing who didn't know what Harry had planned, five of them (Fudge, Umbridge, Diggory, McNair, and Rita Skeeter) completely ignored the elf. The Malfoy's however, looked furious at the sight of the elf that was formerly theirs.

"What is _that _elf doing here?" Warlock Malfoy was red-faced and shouting.

Dobby answered back to his former master, "Dobby is findings new work since leaving former masters."

"Did you expect him to just cease to exist after you gave him a sock?" Harry asked incredulously.

Unfortunately, most of Malfroy's outburst was ignored by everyone else in favour of gaping at what Dobby had brought with him - Buckbeak.

"W-what is that dangerous _beast _doing here?" The arrival of Buckbeak had finally pulled the Minister's attention to what was happening around him.

"Minister, whether Buckbeak is dangerous or not is the point of this trial. If you continue to be prejudicial about the outcome before the evidence is fully explored, I will have no choice but to declare a mistrial and reschedule with a different panel of judges," Director Diggory cut off Fudge before he could start to rant or demand that Buckbeak be removed, "That being said, Mr. Potter, why is the Hippogriff here?"

Harry cleared his throat before talking, "Director, Minister, Undersecretary, we are here to determine the character and temperament of this Hippogriff. So far, all that has happened here is that the Malfoys have called him dangerous based on their evidence and we have said he is not based on ours. It is my intention to offer more evidence right here that Buckbeak is not only trustworthy but an amazing Hippogriff that deserves recognition."

Everyone was paying attention to Harry now as he took the lead from Dobby and led Buckbeak into the room. Then, after quickly removing the ropes from the large animal, Harry bowed to him.

Harry stared into the regal eyes that reminded him of golden honey. Buckbeak bowed back to Harry almost as soon as Harry started his bow. Harry stepped up and hugged the Hippogriff that had saved his life, "This Hippogriff is not a danger to the students. In fact, I am in Buckbeak's debt for saving my life, as I told the Minister and his Undersecretary when it happened.

A few weeks ago, when another student and I were out on the grounds, we were attacked by someone from outside the school. Bellatrix LeStrange got the better of me and the other student. We had lost, my friend was unconscious, and I was immobilized. There was nothing either of us could do. LeStrange was burning the dark mark into my skin, laughing about the furor it would cause in the press to have the Boy-who-lived found with Voldemort's mark burnt in his chest."

Harry didn't really like talking about what happened, but something inside him pushed him to keep talking. Harry guessed it was magic pushing him to repay the debt he owed Buckbeak for saving his life, "Buckbeak was the one who saved us. He came to the aid of a student who needed help. He saved my life and you want to execute him for giving a rude over-entitled daddy's boy a scratch. A scratch that was healed in minutes," Harry finished. Hermione looked like she wanted to get up and hug him but couldn't because of the trial. Harry knew he was being more than a little rude but at this point, he didn't care.

"My arm was in pain for months!" Draco shouted at Harry.

"And then miraculously healed overnight when Madam Hooch said that Slytherin either needed to play their quidditch matches or they would forfeit. You stopped faking as soon as your position as the Slytherin seeker was put at risk," Harry retorted. It was hard for him to remain calm while Draco was shouting at him but he knew that Draco looked more unreasonable to everyone in the room when he did that.

"That thing is violent and a menace!" Draco was shouting at the top of his voice, "Tell them, father!"

Unfortunately for Draco, Buckbeak was currently more concerned with getting Harry to scratch an itch he had at the base of his beak and looked more cuddly than dangerous.

"Oh! This will make _such _a fascinating article for my readers. 'Our saviour's saviour! The Boy-Who-Lived and his battle to save the Hippogriff who saved him!' I'm so glad I came early," Miss Skeeter had a huge grin on her face.

Upon hearing Miss Skeeter's words, Fudge turned a little pale before he stood up and said, "I think we have enough evidence to make a decision now, any objections?" There were none.

Director Diggory took back control, "As there are no objections, I declare we shall move into deliberations. Please can everyone not here to represent the Ministry clear the room? We shall deliver our verdict in two hours."


	41. Chapter 41 - verdict

**Chapter 41 - verdict**

Harry and Hermione were quickly led out of the trial room along with almost everyone else. The three judges would use the room for their deliberations, and all those who didn't work at the Ministry were required to leave.

Warlock Malfoy told Professor Dumbledore that he was going to wait in the staffroom and led Draco away. Harry thought that it was presumptuous of the blond git to use the staffroom, as he wasn't a Professor or any other type of staff at the school. He wasn't even a member of the school's Board of Governors anymore, after he was removed from the position last year for threatening the other governors.

Dumbledore, however, either didn't think it was too presumptuous or thought it wasn't worth starting an argument over the use of a few comfortable chairs and an enchanted tea service for a few hours. The headmaster excused himself, citing the need to do some paperwork, and Hagrid took charge of Buckbeak, leaving to take him for what could be his last walk.

The two teens were just wondering how they would kill the next two hours when a hand fell on each of their shoulders, "Well now, the two of you do not disappoint. You said I could possibly get a story about some government corruption and you were right, and if the trial finds in your favour now, the tale of the Hippogriff that saved Mr. Potter only for Mr. Potter to save him will make a delightful little feel-good story," The reporter was beaming a wide smile, most likely at the notoriety that such a story would garner. "Now, as we have two hours to kill, why don't the two of you give me that interview you promised?" Her smile now turned a little predatory, but not particularly unkind.

Hermione jerked a little. "The promise was an interview with Harry. No one would want to read about me."

"Oh? Don't sell yourself short, dear. You have managed to capture the heart of the young man who was soon to become magical Britain's most eligible bachelor in only a few short years. Did you think I wouldn't see that the two of you were close? Many of my readers would love to hear how you did it." Miss Skeeter scrutinised the young teenage girl. "Don't worry. I know my articles can be a bit intense at times, but for now I'm looking for a public interest story. With Bellatrix LeStrange on the loose a lot of people are on edge. the public needs a pick-me-up."

Hermione was wavering. Harry wasn't going to influence her other way. Buckbeak had saved him and Miss Skeeter had already given them a good shot at saving him. Harry would give his interview, it was his debt to pay. He would, however, be lying if he said he wouldn't be more comfortable if Hermione was there.

"Why don't you lead us to somewhere quiet so we can talk?" Hermione nodded and led them to a classroom on the second floor that was currently empty.

Harry, Hermione, Miss Skeeter, and her camera-carrying colleague (who hadn't said a word so far) each sat at a desk. Miss Skeeter had her handbag open in front of her, pulling out parchment, ink and a quill. At first, she pulled out an acid green feathered quill that matched her robes, but after looking at it for a few moments returned it to her bag in favour of an eagle feather quill that looked rather smart.

"Ok Harry. You don't mind if I call you Harry do you?"

"That's fine."

"So Harry, where to start, where to start? How about...what do you think of the wizarding world? We all know that you were sent to live with muggles after what happened. Now that you have returned to your rightful home, how do you find it?"

"Um, well, I love magic, it's completely amazing. And there are things about the magical society that are absolutely brilliant. Quidditch, the sweets and some types of magic are really fun. But I don't like how much importance some people put on blood status. It's too much like what Voldemort stood for." The two _Daily Prophet_ employees flinched at Harry's use of the name

"Please Harry, don't use that name."

"Why not? It's just a name. A made-up one at that."

"During the blood war, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named put a Taboo on his name; if you say it, then his followers can track you. Not all of them went to Azkaban and no-one knows if the Taboo is still active. So It's still not a good idea to say it." Miss Skeeter explained.

"But Dumbledore keeps encouraging people to use the name! If it could let those psychos track people isn't that incredibly risky?" Hermione half-shouted. "Why has no-one ever explained about the Taboo before?"

"I would assume most people just think you already know." Miss Skeeter shrugged. "Now back to the interview, Miss Granger, Harmony?

"Hermione, H. E. R. M. I. O. N. E." She spelled out her name for the reporter.

"Hermione," Skeeter nodded. "What can you tell me about yourself? You are obviously half-witch, half something else, but I don't know any race that has cat-like features. What is your non-human parent, if you don't mind me asking? And how did you and Harry meet and become friends?"

Despite the relatively friendly tone the gossip columnist used, Hermione grew tense as she made assumptions about Hermione's parentage. "I'm actually fully human. Both my parents are muggles." Miss Skeeter's face showed surprise at that. "My features are new. I made a mistake with a potion and it got contaminated with kneazle hair. So now I have a mild case of permanent spell damage. It's nothing serious, in fact I have better hearing now, I just need to be carefull around muggles when I go home. Harry actually helped me a lot there. He is really good at runes and he made me some accessories that conceal my ears and tail. I don't bother with them much in the magical world as I actually think my ears and tail are cute." She blushed a little at the last admittance.

"As for how we met, we first met on the Express as we came for our first year here. I was a bit of a berk and Mione fixed my glasses," Harry admitted.

"You weren't that bad, Harry. We didn't become friends until Halloween. One of the other students had said some…well he just wasn't being nice. Just regular school stuff. Anyway, I was crying in one of the toilets and I didn't know what was happening at the feast." Hermione explained her part.

Harry took over then. "As she said, it was Halloween. I don't like Halloween, it's not an easy day for me." Harry left it at that he doubted that the reporter would need more details as to why. "Rather than attending the school feast and ruining everyone's fun, I was just wandering around the castle. Only, I found that someone had let a bloody 12ft mountain troll into the castle and it was about to kill Hermione. To give you the short version, I saved Hermione and then she saved me. I accidentally managed to kill the troll, and, well, after that how could we not be friends?"

Miss Skeeter was writing at full speed taking notes, but stopped to stare at him. "Y-you k-killed a troll! Accidentally?" The shock evident in her voice.

"I was trying to blind it with a Lumos spell but my wand got stuck up its nose, and I got off a very lucky shot…when I tell it now it sounds completely ridiculous."

"Yeah, but it was terrifying at the time. We didn't even realize Harry had killed it. We thought it was just unconscious so we ran until we ran into Professor McGonagall."

The interview continued on for a while longer. Miss Skeeter asked questions about all sorts of topics, from Harry's parents, to both their opinions on more frivolous things like singers, fashion and Quidditch teams. The questions she asked about their encounters with LeStrange and how the two got together were both a little emotional but in different ways.

The reporter loved that Harry had stuck by Hermione during her cat potions mishap; according to her, "the public will eat that up."

Neither Harry nor Hermione were quite sure about how to feel about that aspect of their lives appearing in print. It wasn't as though it was a big secret. Most of the school knew that they had gotten together while Hermione was in the hospital wing, and a few students had come to the hospital wing while Harry read her books to her. Some had been there to visit Hermione and others had just needed to see Madam Pomfrey. Anyone interested who asked around could easily peace it together, and it wasn't like either of them would have hidden it from anyone who asked. There was just something about it being in the paper or one of the _Daily Prophet_'s sister publications (Miss Skeeter was vague on which publication would carry the article) was uncomfortable. Harry wasn't a fan of his fame to begin with, but he wasn't going to let feeling a little uncomfortable stop him from helping Buckbeak.

Hermione wasn't exactly used to the idea of being in the spotlight either, apart from in class where she (by the virtue of her academic zeal) was often the center of attention next to the professor. Outside of that, she tended to be quieter than most others. She had seen how Harry's fame affected him and wasn't too keen on experiencing it for herself, but she could see the advantages of having a soapbox in the future. She may have accepted that house elves need the bond with wizards but she was determined to give the poor things more protection from abuse if she could find a way.

Once Miss Skeeter had finished asking them questions and jotting down the answers, she asked for some photos to go with the article. Harry had expected it and was resigned to the fact but Hermione really didn't like that idea. "I'm not ready for a photo shoot. My hair is a mess and my skin is all blotchy." Hermione wasn't wearing any make-up nor had she done anything with her hair today. She was wearing her best full school uniform because of the trial, but as this was the last day of their exam week, Hermione hadn't been focused on her appearance at all.

"No problem, dear. I can help you with that. I do a lot of work with _Witch Weekly_ and _Teen Witch Weekly_, beauty charms are some of our most popular articles." The reporter drew her wand. "So dear, what kind of look should we go for?"

The two women bantered back and forth for a few minutes. Miss Skeeter was pushing for a look that was more conventionally pretty, like the witches Harry saw on the covers of magazines. Hermione ,however, insisted that such a look just wasn't her. Of course, Miss Skeeter argued back that she needed to look her best if she wanted to make a good impression on the people who would read the article.

Hermione was just insisting that she would appear as herself when Harry had an idea and fished his wallet out of his pocket. A quick search through it and he found what he was looking for. "How about this?"

Hermione looked at what Harry was holding out and smiled. It was Harry's photo of Hermione from New Year's Eve, which was taken before they had left the house.

He showed it to miss Skeeter, who looked it over. "It's a nice photo, but it needs to be one that moves."

"Could you recreate the look?" Hermione asked. If she was going to be in the paper just because she had a boyfriend, then the look she wore the night they fully confessed their feelings seemed appropriate.

Miss Skeeter examined the photo. "It's so weird when they don't move," she muttered to herself before speaking a bit louder. "I can do something similar, but there is a catch." They worriedly waited for her to continue. "The charms to recreate hair like that with your type of hair are short-lived; they will come undone in an hour or two at the most and…you will have a bad hair day after the charms wear off."

Harry almost laughed. The way that Miss Skeeter was talking, he thought that it would be something serious. Hermione, while still being concerned about her appearance, wasn't the type to worry about something as trivial as a bad hair day. Well unless they were going out somewhere special. She did seem to like dressing up a little for New Year's Eve for example.

"What do you mean by a bad hair day? A little frizz, or would my hair try and strangle me?" Hermione questioned, mostly joking but with a slight bit of caution in her voice.

"Oh nothing too drastic dear, just some uncontrollable frizz and a refusal to sit flat or stay styled. Basically, it will look like you just got off a long broom flight for about twelve hours, give or take an hour." Miss Skeeter smiled

Harry couldn't help it now, he laughed. Hermione and Miss Skeeter looked at him a little offended. Miss Skeeter because she took matters of fashion and appearance seriously, but Hermione however was taken aback by Harry laughing at her appearance. That was, until she looked at Harry and started laughing herself when she saw what Harry was laughing about. The description that Miss Skeeter gave was a fair depiction of Harry's hair everyday. "Oh… I'll… I'll look just like Harry," Hermione was able to get out between laughs.

Once Hermione had stopped laughing and wiped the tears from her eyes, she agreed to let Miss Skeeter do the little makeover. It was surprisingly quick. After only a few minutes of wand waving, Hermione's hair and a light touch of make-up were a close match to what Hermione had worn to the New Year party.

For the next ten minutes, the photographer (whom Miss Skeeter only referred to as 'Bozo') had the two pose for picture after picture: facing each other, holding hands, back to back, Harry's arm around Hermione and loads more.

Once they were done with the little photoshoot, Hermione approached the photographer. "Mr… um?"

"Just call me Bozo, love." Hermione stared a little. "It's my actual name." He shook his head. "I sometimes wonder whether my parents were confunded or just smoking something when they named me. But enough of that, what can I do for you, love?"

"I was wondering if it would be possible to get a copy of the photos? The only photos Harry and I have of the two of us are from this night." Hermione held up Harry's photo.

"Yes, we can do that. But because this is a _Daily Prophet_ camera and the photos are printed with their equipment, I do have to charge for them and you need to sign a waiver saying that the prints are not for commercial use." Seeing Hermione hesitate, Bozo offered "once this lot is developed why don't I send you an order form? That way you can see the photos and see how much they cost and make a decision then?"

Hermione quickly agreed to that and the four of them decided it was time to go see if Buckbeak's fate had been decided yet.

_**-ϟϟϟ-**_

Hagrid and Harry were both pacing back and forth along the corridor, nervous over the fate of their friend. Hermione was watching the two of them, only barely keeping from snapping at them to sit down. The Malfoys were sitting on the outside of the corridor, the younger of the two looking smug and confident. It seemed that during the break he had convinced himself that everything would go his way. His father, however, wasn't giving anything away. He was like an expert poker player, hiding if he was bluffing.

Dumbledore was as calm as Hermione had ever seen him, he almost looked like he was asleep if it wasn't for the fact he was humming a bit of music as he absently conducted it with one hand. Miss Skeeter, who was only hanging around now out of curiosity, was presumably writing away on an article for the _Daily Prophet_, possibly even the interview she had just gotten while it was fresh in her mind.

Hermione hoped that they would give a verdict soon. While she felt confident that they had done the best they could and that they had a fair shot at saving the hippogriff, the waiting was maddening. Every second brought with it a new doubt that collected together with all the others, forming into a heavy ball of pure anxiety that was squeezing her insides. Maybe she should have insisted that she and Harry should have spent more time in the library researching instead of the two of them sneaking off to the Room of Requirement every Friday. They were dealing with the very life of an animal. How could she have been so selfish? What if the answer had been in the next book?

_She was a horrible selfish woman and because of that she was going to have Buckbeak's death on her conscience._

Hermione beat those thoughts back into submission, then retrieved a small chocolate quaffle from her robe's pocket. She quickly unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth. The Dementors had been at the school so long that occasionally their effects slipped past the school wards and affected the thoughts of people in the castle. The chocolate chased away the effect of the Dementors but not all of her anxieties. Despite being amplified by the Dementors, her anxieties had a solid base in fact. She would feel guilty for not researching more if Buckbeak lost.

A little while later the door opened and the pink clad undersecretary stepped out. "The Ministry is ready to deliver its decision. Please come in." Hermione tried to get an idea about the verdict from the woman's expression and body language, since she was the most outwardly expressive of the Ministry representatives, but still couldn't tell either way. She waited until most of the other people had gone into the room before she followed with the last of them, including Harry.

They all took the same seats that they had earlier. Hagrid and Dumbledore sat up front at one large desk while the Malfoys sat at the other, facing the three judges. Hermione and the rest took their seats at the back of the room. Someone had conjured an animal pen at one side of the room in which sat Buckbeak, who was happily preening his feathers.

Hermione was on the edge of her seat as the Director for the Department for the Regulation of Magical Creatures rifled through a few bits of parchment while he waited for everyone to finish sitting. Hermione had grabbed Harry's hand and she was holding tight enough to hurt, but he hadn't complained to her so she hadn't noticed. The reason Harry hadn't said anything was he hadn't noticed either. He, like Hermione, was focused on the judge waiting for Buckbeak's verdict.

"We have come to a decision regarding the conduct of the hippogriff known as Buckbeak. After reviewing the evidence and the statements of people who were present at the time of the incident, it has been decided to overturn the decision that was made earlier this year and remove the destruction order." There were sighs of relief from Harry and Hermione, and Hagrid broke out into a massive grin. Draco looked like he wanted to kill Director Diggory, while Warlock Malfoy was glaring at the minister.

"However, it is still true that despite the circumstances, the hippogriff known as Buckbeak did indeed intend injury to a student. In light of this the hippogriff in question is to be removed from the school property before the return of the students on the first of September." Harry and Hagrid looked beaten; they had gotten everything they needed but nothing they wanted. Buckbeak would be safe but they wouldn't be able to see him.

The Malfoys relaxed a little at the added part to the verdict, but the two still didn't look happy. Director Diggory kept on talking, just covering a bunch of legal jargon that needed to be said, and that was it. Hermione allowed herself a small smile, _she had done it_. It wasn't a perfect victory and she hadn't done it alone, but she had done her part and they had saved Buckbeak.

_**-ϟϟϟ-**_

Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid were walking down to the pen where the hippogriffs were kept. Harry was riding Buckbeak while Hagrid led the recently exonerated hippogriff. Hermione walked alongside, the hair style charm starting to wear off. Harry had tried to get Hermione to ride Buckbeak with him, but her fear of heights meant that she felt much more comfortable with her feet firmly on the ground.

Both Harry and Hagrid had perked up since learning that Buckbeak would have to leave and were now focusing on the fact that they had done something that had seemed almost impossible. They had won, in spite of the galleons that Warlock Malfoy had probably given Fudge. It was the only reason Hermione could think of for the minister and his undersecretary to be judges at a dangerous creature's case. Their main job was running the ministry, appointing heads of Ministry departments, and deciding how to allocate the tax gold to those departments. Normally for a case like Buckbeak's, the judges would all be from the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures. Warlock Malfoy bribing Fudge to put himself and his undersecretary on the panel was the only reason that they could come up with for their presence. Harry was sure that the reason that they were forcing Buckbeak to leave was just to save face with Warlock Malfoy and to keep his bribes of gold rolling in.

As they walked, Hagrid was telling them about a friend of his that he was hoping would take Buckbeak. "He's a breeder. He breeds 'ippogriff's for people and Beaky, well, he's o' good breeding stock. He will have a great time at ol' Moonshine's," but the forced cheer faltered from his voice. "I won't half miss 'im, but it's better than the alternative. And old Moonshine's is just on the other side of Hogsmeade so it's not as if we can't visit him."

Harry sighed. "You can visit him, I won't be allowed out of the castle until they are sure that the bitch LeStrange has left the area."

"Harry James Potter, watch your language!" Hermione scolded him but without her normal heat.

"Sorry love."

Hermione looked at him questioningly. "Love? Since when do you call me love?"

Harry shrugged noncommittally. "it just sort of happened. Is it a problem?" The question was cautious.

"Not a problem. I like the idea of having pet-names for each other, I just think you can do better." She teased.

Before Harry could even think of a reply Buckbeak took off at a canter, jumped, and with a few flaps of his wings and a short glide, landed in the Hippogriff paddock. The other hippogriffs crowded around Buckbeak, evidently happy to see him. While the herd completely ignored Harry, their insistence on being as close to Buckbeak as physically possible had Harry stuck, not having the room to climb down so he could go join Hagrid and Hermione who were now leaning on the fence surrounding the paddock. Harry wondered what the point of the fence was when the creatures it was meant to pen up could fly. But it had to do something, as despite nothing keeping them from leaving and wandering the school grounds, the hippogriffs never seemed to leave the area on their own.

It took over ten minutes for the herd to calm down enough for Harry to make an escape. He slid down from Buckbeak's back, and after a quick pat on the hippogriff's beak, Harry slipped through the mass of feathers and hooves to rejoin his girlfriend and professor, only to find that they had been joined by Neville. The boy had been saved by Buckbeak just as much as Harry had, and wanted to be at the trial to help just as much as Harry had. Unfortunately for Neville, the trial was scheduled to take place at the same time as his Divination practical exam.

Harry climbed over the fence, having to be careful not to rip his trousers on an old nail that was not hammered in all the way. "Hey Nev, good news! We saved Buckbeak!" exclaimed Harry as he joined the trio. "Beaky won't be able to stay at Hogwarts, unfortunately. But at least we saved him from Malfoy's plans." Harry had expected Neville to cheer at the news but he looked rather worried. "What's wrong Nev?"

"It's stupid." He tried to shrug Harry's concern off. But Harry pressed him for more.

"It's Trelawney, at the end of my exam she made a prediction."

Hermione scoffed. "That woman is always making predictions. How are you and Harry going to die this time? If you or Harry actually died as often as that fraud said, you would be the biggest miracle of the modern magical age! People would come far and wide to see the Longbottom and Potter Boys-Who-Keep-Living." The sarcasm practically dripped from Hermione's words.

"Don't hold back Mione, tell us what you really think." Harry joked, causing the three of them to smirk.

"I know it's stupid. She makes stupid predictions all the time. But this one was different," Neville added.

"In what way?" Harry asked.

"Well for one, she didn't predict that anyone was going to die. Then, there's the way she was talking. Normally when she makes a prediction she just says it. She hams it up all dramatic but it's still just her saying it. This time it was different. It wasn't like her voice at all and the way she sat and looked, it was like someone or something else entirely. When she looked at me it was like she didn't see me at all, and after it was over she didn't seem to remember the prediction at all."

"Sounds to me like she just read a better book on acting and wanted to finish the year with a bang." Hermione was more dismissive of Trelawney than any of their other professors. Harry suspected that it was because the professor she respected the most, Professor McGonagall, was also very sceptical about the divination instructor.

"You weren't there Hermione, it was really freaky." Neville tried to explain.

Harry was curious now "What did she actually say?"

It took a few seconds for Neville to go over it in his head but once he did he recited:-

_"It will happen tonight under the light of the full moon._

_The two servants, one chained, one changed, will reunite._

_The servants will unite and together will restore their master._

_The master will herald the coming of the shadow._

_And the country shall fall into darkness once more._

_Tonight the servants shall unite under the full moon._.."

Neville finished recounting the prediction to Harry, Hermione and Hagrid. The three of them stood there silently looking at Neville not knowing what to say. Hagrid was the first to break the silence. "Yah should probably go tell Professor Dumbledore. That almost sounds like a real prophecy. If anyone would know what to do about it, it would be a great wizard like Dumbledore."

"Surely disturbing Dumbledore over something like this is just a waste of his time? We are almost at the end of the school year and I bet that means a lot of work for him." Hermione objected to going to the headmaster, though Harry thought her reason was more of an excuse.

"What do you think Harry?" Neville asked

"I think Hermione is probably right, Trelawney is a known fake. If prophecies are real I doubt Trelawney has ever given one." It wasn't just that he was just agreeing with her, he would have gone the same route about anyone who constantly predicted the death of a Divination student for over ten years and all of them were still alive. Hell, if she got one right this time it wouldn't be because she saw the future, it would be the law of averages. He was reminded of the old saying, 'if you throw enough shit against the wall, eventually some of it will stick.'

The four of them chatted for a time as they watched the hippogriffs groom themselves and scratch at the ground looking for worms and talked about their summer plans.

Harry and Hermione admitted that they didn't know for the most part but Hermione said she was going to visit her grandmother for a week. Neville was planning on asking around about whomping willow trees to find out if anyone who had one would let him study it over the next school year. Hagrid was planning a trip to the continent to see about getting the school some new examples of magical creatures for his class.

Finally, Hagrid looked at the sun lowering in the sky. "Right, you lot. You better get back up to the castle, it'll be dinner soon. I don't want Professor McGonagall chasing me down because you all missed dinner."

The three of them said their farewells to the professor, who was much more jolly now than he was before the trial, and made their way up to the castle. Harry was looking forward to the next two weeks. With his exams over and the professors all too focused on the exams for the fifth, sixth and seventh years, the next two weeks would be a great time to relax. He turned back to Hermione to ask if she thought it would be nice to arrange for a picnic for the two of them tomorrow, only to find that Hermione had disappeared…


	42. Chapter 42 - of rats and madwomen

**Chapter 42 - of rats and madwomen pt1**

Harry turned back to Hermione to ask if she thought it would be nice to arrange for a picnic for the two of them tomorrow, only to find that she had disappeared. Immediately, a feeling of dread settled in Harry's stomach; she would never run off without telling him where she was going, especially since she had been right beside him only moments ago. Ever since LeStrange had attacked Neville and himself, Hermione had made a point of making sure Harry or someone knew where she was at all times, if only to ease Harry's constant worry for her. Harry turned to Neville and grabbed his fellow Gryffindor by the shoulder, frantically near-shouting, "Where is Hermione!?"

Neville looked around, not quite understanding why Harry was so upset, "Uh...she was with us a few moments ago. Maybe she slipped to the toilets or something?"

Harry shook his head, "No, she wouldn't go off without saying anything," Harry was fumbling through his pockets, looking for his father's map. Unless she had somehow been taken out of Hogwarts, he was sure to see her name somewhere in the Castle. He finally found it folded up in his back pocket. Quickly unfolding it and tapping it with his wand, Harry impatiently watched for a few moments (which felt like half an hour) as the lines of ink began to cross and mark the page. Once it was fully ready he started to search for Hermione.

He checked the route to the nearest girls loo, hoping that Neville was right, and that she had not felt it necessary to tell him she was disappearing for a few minutes. No luck. He traced the route back to Hagrid's cabin, thinking that maybe Hermione had forgotten something and doubled back for it. Again he drew a blank.

"What the...? Harry, this map is amazing; where did you get it?" Neville asked, more interested in the map than where Hermione had disappeared to.

"Dad made it," Harry's reply was sharp, but right now he didn't care if it hurt Neville's feelings. He was too preoccupied searching for the most important person in his life. He kept searching and searching through the hundreds of names that occupied Hogwarts, not finding the name "Hermione Granger" anywhere. His eyes searched over the grounds outside the castle. _There! _Finally, he spotted Hermione's name, right next to the Whomping Willow.

And right next to Bellatrix LeStrange.

"There, there she is! Next to...OH GOD!" Harry dropped the map and was off like a seeker who had spied a snitch. He had to get to Hermione, right now. Harry sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him. For once, he was glad of his cousin's pastime of Harry hunting. He didn't think he would be anywhere as fast if it wasn't for how much he used to run from Dudley.

Harry arrived at the Willow just in time to see LeStrange disappear under an immobile Whomping Willow. Harry briefly wondered what the mad Death Eater had done to the tree to make it stop moving, only to decide just as quickly that it didn't matter. Harry sprinted towards the hole between the roots of the tree, the place that he just saw LeStrange disappear into. However, he was so focused on getting to Hermione that he didn't see the tree start moving again. Unfortunately, once he did realise that fact, he wasn't able to move to avoid the flailing branches.

Harry was sent flying when one of the thicker branches hit him, the length of the branch spanning from the side of his head all the way down to the opposite hip. He was lucky the branch had hit him over such a wide area, as the blow was spread out and the injuries were minimal, although his head was ringing from the impact and he was sure his chest would be one large bruise tomorrow.

Harry got up and was just about to try again when someone grabbed his shoulder. Harry turned, ready to fight tooth and nail with whatever was stopping him from going after Hermione, only to find it was Neville.

"Neville, let go of me! I'm going after her!" Harry was again harsh with his friend, but Neville didn't stop from restraining him.

"Harry, wait! You'll never get through just running at it like that. You'll just get yourself smashed to a pulp, and then how will we help her?" It was only then that Harry saw that Neville was holding the map.

"How do I get in then!?" Harry pointed at the entrance to whatever passageway LeStrange had used.

"Give me a minute," Neville asked.

Harry really didn't want to wait but he didn't really have much choice, "Quickly, then," he all but snarled at Neville.

It took Neville a few minutes to form a plan, a few absolutely agonizing minutes in which Hermione was stuck by herself with a psychopath. Finally, Neville spoke, "Right, I have an idea. I know a spell that will freeze the willow, but it needs to be cast on the trunk."

"Well, fire away."

"Sorry, but it doesn't work that way; I need to tap the trunk with my wand."

"How are you meant to get close enough to do that?" Harry was exasperated; Neville seemed to be of very little help, and Harry was considering running down to Hogsmeade to try and find Hermione; the map showed LeStrange and Hermione headed that way. It would be better than waiting here.

"I can make it to the trunk if...if the willow is more interested in going after someone else," Neville admitted.

Harry understood instantly. The tree would be far more interested in attacking him than Neville. Harry rushed at the tree, and this time he wasn't worried about trying to get to the hollow between the roots. His focus was in being as close to the tree as he could get without getting himself killed.

As Harry ducked, dodged and jumped, successfully avoiding blows from the willow, all the leaping about was eating into his stamina. He had already run to the tree as fast as he could in an attempt to catch up. Now, without any time to get his breath back, he was providing a distraction by jumping around.

Harry's reactions soon started to suffer the effects of the loss of stamina, and while he was still able to avoid the largest of the branches, which could kill him if they caught him right, he had considerably less luck with the smaller branches, that were waving about like a mass of bullwhips. Harry was lucky in that they caused far more pain than they did damage.

Out of nowhere, as quick as a snitch, a thin branch whipped out at him. Instead of swinging at his chest and head, like all the other blows had done so far, this one swiped at his legs, and suddenly, he was winded, on the ground, with a thick, nobbly branch swinging viciously towards him, trying to crush him between it and the ground below him.

Just before the branch hit him, it, and all the other branches, froze where they were.

"I got it Harry. Quickly, before it unfreezes," Harry got out from under the branch and quickly went over to the hollow at the base of the tree where Neville was standing, "God, Harry, you look like you already lost a fight. Shouldn't we go get Professor McGonagall, or maybe Dumbledore?"

Harry shook his head, "There's no time. McGonagall doesn't listen when I tell her something is happening, and by the time we find Dumbledore, who knows what she will have done to Hermione. I'm going now," Harry's tone said more than his words that he had made his decision.

Harry started to climb down the hole. He was surprised how easily he fit, given how hard the hole was to see from the outside. When just his head was sticking up, Harry looked at Neville and said, "You should go find help while I go ahead."

"No."

"Nev-"

"No, I'm going as well."

"Are you sure? It will be dangerous."

"Am I sure? This is the woman who destroyed my parents. I don't care how dangerous it is or how afraid I am. I have to spend my holidays visiting the broken shells that used to be my mum and dad. House LeStrange owes my House a debt, and as the next Warlock of House Longbottom, I intend to collect it," Neville was a strange mix of trembling fear and sheer determination as he spoke.

All Harry could do was nod in agreement. He hadn't wanted to drag Neville into his mess, but with the reminder of what had happened to Neville's parents, Harry couldn't just send him away. It reminded him of when he went after the stone in his first year. Even though he hadn't expected Voldemort to be there, when he found out, he knew that he had to stop Voldemort from getting the stone.

Harry finished climbing down the hole and found a passage leading away from the castle. The tunnel was high enough that Harry could stand with just his head bowed, but Neville, who had soon slid down next to him, was having to crouch a little. Without a word, the two of them set out to see where the tunnel led. As the two walked on, in an attempt to stop himself from panicking about Hermione, Harry thought about what Neville had said. It reminded Harry of something he heard once. _Courage is not being unafraid. Courage was being terrified and not letting it stop you._ If Harry had ever wondered how Neville had been sorted into Gryffindor, now he could not see the taller boy in any other house.

The tunnel continued for what seemed like miles, with many twists and turns. Harry was sure the path doubled back on them a few times, which got him completely lost. Well not lost, he knew the way back and he knew the way forward, it was just one long tunnel after all but he had no clue where it led. He thought that it might be going to Hogsmeade, but that was more because it was the only place around Hogwarts to go, rather than some feat of navigation.

Harry and Neville walked as quietly as they could feeling their way in the dark. Harry wanted to charge ahead as quickly as possible; he didn't understand how but he could feel that Hermione was afraid and he needed to get to her. Neville had disagreed, pointing out that if Harry did that, then he would probably be exhausted when they caught up with LeStrange, and that they were better off without the Lumos charm. If there was a trap waiting for them, it was better if LeStrange didn't see them coming.

Eventually, after what must have been an hour to Harry, they came to the end of the passageway and could see the light shining in the opening. It was a dim light, but after the complete darkness of the tunnel it stood out like a neon sign. The two Gryffindors crept up to the light. It was a small door at the top of a short ladder. and the light was from a small peep hole that was in the middle of the door, putting it at roughly eye level.

Harry who was only 13 and small for his age wasn't quite tall enough so he let Neville look. "No sign of them. It's a room in an old house. Doesn't look like anyone lives here anymore except for a few animals. There are claw marks on everything." Neville whispered to him.

The two of them, wands in hand, slowly opened the door. Harry entered the room first, with Neville trailing behind him. Neville had been right about it looking like a room in an abandoned house. It was very disordered, dusty, and the paper was peeling from the walls. There were stains all over the floor, and every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it. The windows were all boarded up, letting in only a little of the orange-tinted setting sunlight. The door to the passageway silently swung closed. This side of the door looked like it was just decrepit panelling; if Harry had not known to look, even now with the house in disrepair, he wouldn't have known it was a door.

The thick dust on the floor showed where someone had been moving about and also clearly showed where someone else (Hermione!) had been dragged along the floor very recently. Harry and Neville started to follow the trail in the dust. It led out the door and into a corridor with a set of stairs at the end, so they cautiously followed it, half expecting to be attacked at any moment.

They were just about to follow the trail up the stairs when they heard the sound of struggling above them, which was followed by Hermione yelling "get the fuck away from me you psychotic bitch!" Harry was relieved, Hermione fighting back meant she was still alive. Then Hermione screamed in pain. Harry abandoned all thought of a careful approach and ran up the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him, the sound of his footsteps echoing through the old house. At the top of the stairs he looked around. There were a number of doors off a small landing, with Hermione's now pained whimper coming from behind the nearest one.

He burst through the door to what was once a bedroom and saw a sight that made him as angry as he had only ever been once before. Hermione was lying on an old four poster bed that looked like it should have been turned to firewood a few decades ago. Her arms and legs were tightly bound with rope and she was covered in blood. the red showing brightly on her white blouse. The blood had come from Hermione's nose by the look of it. The sight reminded Harry of his birthday almost a year ago, Hedwig's blood shining on her white feathers, and just like then Harry lost it.

Harry charged at LeStrange, his wand in hand. He didn't know what spell he would have cast, as before he could finish raising his wand, LeStrange had been alerted by his energetic entrance and hit him with the spell she had ready. Harry's wand went flying from his hands, though he didn't try to retrieve his wand or run away or beg for mercy like other Wix that LeStrange had fought over the years. Hiding or trying to get back your weapon were things you did if you were thinking, and right now Harry was acting purely on rage. The momentum he already had closed the gap between the two; LeStrange was caught by surprise and did nothing to stop him as his fist came up and slammed into her face.

There were two pops that were so close together that they merged into one sound. The first was from LeStrange's nose as the cartilage broke and red blood quickly started to stain the convicts' grubby clothes. The second pop was from Harry's hand as his ring finger was dislocated. LeStrange's head flew back from the impact, spraying Harry with a few droplets of blood. Harry stepped forward and hit her again but this time she was already stumbling backwards resulting in a much weaker impact this time. Thanks to the adrenaline shooting through his system, Harry didn't even feel the pain in his dislocated finger

With the second strike being weaker, LeStrange was able to focus enough to get a spell off. The hex sent Harry flying backwards across the room and into the wall, Hermione screaming his name. Harry was lucky the wall was old wooden panels that had not stood up well to time. If it had been the stone walls from the castle, Filch would have needed a Squeegee to clean him up. Instead, it was the wall that broke, leaving Harry half buried in broken bits of wool and old wallpaper.

"You annoying fucking half blood, I have had enough of you!" screamed LeStrange. "You burn me, you cut me and now you punch me like a filthy discussing Muggle! I'll kill you. AVADA-"

A red beam of light shot from the doorway and struck LeStrange before she could finish her spell, causing her wand to go flying out of her hand. In all his anger at what was happening to Hermione Harry had forgotten about Neville. "Ge-Get away from them!" Neville waved his wand again saying _'Petrificus totalus,' _only this time the spell didn't work. It wasn't that Neville had cast it wrong, and LeStrange wasn't blocking it somehow. For some reason, the spell fired off perfectly and hit it's target, only for some reason it just didn't do anything.

With the bitch currently wandless, Harry had enough time to pull himself out of the half rotted wall. Harry looked around quickly to see where his and LeStrange's wands had fallen. His was across the room from him, half hidden under an old set of drawers, while hers was nearer to him on the floor between them. LeStrange dove for her wand, only Harry was faster; it helped that Harry didn't try to pick up the wand. Instead, he brought his foot down on the wand as hard as he could, and with a snap the wand was broken into three separate pieces, only a few foul smelling bits of green stringy sinew connecting them.

"Harry look out!" Hermione was trying to free herself from the ropes, but they kept magically re-adjusting to hold her as she tried to escape. However, she could see what was happening and saw that Harry was too focused on the now-broken wand to notice that LeStrange was now charging at him instead of trying to reach the wand.

Hermione's shout was enough to get Harry to see the convict charging at him, her eyes filled with a mad fury. He didn't have any time to react or defend himself before she was on top of him, Harry now on his back while slaps, punches and claw-like nails rained down on him. Between LeStrange's insane screams about unworthy blood and trailers to the magical society Harry could hear Neville trying spell after spell to try and help Harry. The problem was that none of them were affecting the witch. Harry didn't know if it was Neville's skill with magic, or if it was just that his spells were for some reason not working on LeStrange, or just really bad aim but Harry could hear Neville casting spells that Harry was sure Neville knew and nothing was happening.

Harry fought back and gave as good as he got. He may have been small for his age and too skinny to be considered completely healthy, but his time at his relatives was matched by LeStrange's time in Azkaban. For every scratch, cut and bruise that she inflicted on Harry he gave her something in return. LeStrange tried to punch Harry again but slipped a little when Harry blocked the blow. Harry took the opportunity and flipped them so he was on top and started raining punch after punch on the prone psychopath. Hermione was shouting something at him but he wasn't listening.

If Harry had been paying attention he would have noticed that the flashing of spells from Neville's wand had stopped and Neville had fallen face first, arms at his side and legs completely straight, as he was hit from behind with a full body bind. His wand rolled until it came to rest near the two rolling on the floor. Suddenly, the room was lit by a shower of purple sparks. The parks reminded Harry of his eleventh birthday in Ollivander's when his wand had bonded with him. Neville's wand had rolled into LeStrange's hand and connected with her.

The next thing Harry knew was LeStrange had pointed the wand at him and everything went dark.

_**-ϟϟϟ-**_

The first thought that went though Harry's head when he returned to consciousness was '_ow._' The adrenaline he had been running on since seeing Hermione's name next to LeStrange's on the map had worn off, and he could feel the effects of everything that he had gone through in the last few hours. His legs felt like he had run a marathon, his ring finger on his right hand was throbbing in sync to the beat of his heart, his nose felt like someone had smashed it with a cricket bat, and he ached all over from bangs and scraps caused by both the Whomping willow and his tussle with the psycho who had kidnapped Hermione.

A big part of Harry wanted to just lay down and go to sleep but that just wasn't going to happen. For one, he was hurting too much to sleep, and two, he couldn't lie down anyway. Harry opened his eyes to look around and was dismayed by what he saw. He, Hermione and Neville were all wrapped up in ropes and tied dangling from the exposed beams that used to hold up the ceiling.

LeStrange was lounging in an ornate silver snake-themed throne that definitely wasn't in the room before, while she idly spun Neville's wand around her fingers. Next to her stood Draco Malfoy, wearing the same smug look that he always wore. "Ah, it looks like little baby Potter has finally woken up." The merry tone of Bellatrix's voice did nothing to hide her vindictive personality. "Now that you are awake we can start getting tonight's entertainment ready."

Harry realized what must have happened, Draco must have followed them. When he saw what was happening he had attacked Neville from behind and LeStrange had gotten her hands on Neville's wand.

She turned to Malfoy and continued talking. "You see, nephew, we used to do something like this back during the day. When we went out on a raid, whether it was slaughtering mudbloods, cutting down the blood traitors and the unworthy, or even if it was just a spot of Muggle hunting, we would capture one or more of the trash and bring them home to entertain the faithful. It was always different. Sometimes we would use fire, sometimes ice. One time the Dark Lord used the Imperius to force a mudblood to eat her child, while her blood traitor of a husband was forced to watch. The trick is to make it slow, to draw out the fun." LeStrange was almost giddy with excitement as she recalled the memory.

Harry was feeling sick at the evident glee LeStrange got from those memories. He could hear Neville sobbing and Hermione was losing what was left of her lunch. Even Draco looked a little green.

"Tonight we will be using that." She waved her hand to a corner of the room behind Harry where he couldn't see.

"Why don't you tell Potter what came in after he was unconscious, mogblood." Draco sneers at Hermione.

"Leave Hermione out of this! You jumped up, inbred, daddy's little bitch!" Harry shouted at Malfoy.

"Not a chance." Malfoy spat out though the sneer. "The jumped up mudblood who has the nerve to look down on me is going to get exactly what it deserves. Now tell him or I'll cut your tail off before the rest of the fun starts!"

Hermione looked over at Harry for the first time since he had regained consciousness. The blood from her nose had dried on most of her face except where tears had trailed down her cheeks. The right side of her face was one big bruise. The worst part though was the look in her eyes, Harry couldn't see any of her usual determination, her fire. Hermione looked like she just wanted to curl up and sleep.

"Professor Lupin came along the tunnel." Hermione's voice was flat, without any inflexion.

"And the rest, pretty kitty." LeStrange prompted.

"Professor Lupin is a werewolf. I think that's where your father and his friends came up with the nickname Moony." Hermione finished.

The image of the stuffed animal that Harry remembered when he asked Lupin what he had called him when he was a kid flashed through his mind, and he thought Hermione was right. Uncle Moony's condition was probably well known to his parents and the other Marauders. Harry was a little hurt that he hadn't been told but was more worried about the fact that he, his girlfriend, and his friend were hung from the ceiling, obviously waiting to be fed to a werewolf.

LeStrange flicked her wand at Harry and with a slight sting Harry was spun around, so he could see Uncle Moony gagged with his feet and arms bound. He was struggling against the bonds trying to free himself but it wasn't helping. Harry could see what would happen. Once Lupin transformed his limbs would be thinner and the ropes holding him would slip off easily. Then, the kind professor who took the time to tell him about his father and to teach him and Hermione the Patronus Charm would be gone, and an animal driven by nothing but the instinct to kill and eat would take his place.

LeStrange started laughing as she watched Harry realize what was going to happen. "Come Draco. This will get messy, and Cissy will never forgive me if you get bitten. I just wish we had the time to set up somewhere to watch." With that she led a still-sneering Malfoy from the room.

The three of them were left tied up and hanging from the ceiling, slowly spinning. None of them talked and for a few minutes the only sounds were the grunts and scuffles as Lupin fought in vain to break free of his bonds. "Professor, have you taken wolfsbane?" Hermione asked, the urgency back in her voice. Their professor shook his head and tried to say something but the words were lost in his gag.

The full weight of what was about to happen pressed on Harry and he felt responsible for what was about to happen to Hermione. "Hermione. I'm sorry. If only we weren't… then LeStrange would nev-"

Hermione cut him off. "Don't you dare Harry James Potter. Don't you dare apologize for being my boyfriend!"

"But."

"No buts. The only thing I regret about our relationship is that we didn't get together sooner…" Hermione continued talking but Harry had stopped listening. Not because what she was saying wasn't important. In another situation, it would be the most important thing in the world to him. However, as he hung his head and slowly spun around, his eye settled on an old chest of drawers, and poking out from under it was Harry's wand.

The wand that was still wearing the summoning ring.

Harry had been completely stupid he had completely forgotten about his summoning rings when he was disarmed. He had devoted almost an entire year to creating a solution to that exact situation and he had forgotten about it. He wriggled his hand and freed it a little from the ropes that held him and fed a small trickle of his magic into his ring. His wand came shooting across the room and into his hand.

Hermione had stopped talking now and there was a rattling at the window. In the sunset light Harry could see Hermione's wand bouncing against the windowpane, trying to get in. Harry started trying to use the severing charm to cut the ropes holding him but the angle made it difficult. After a few small cuts to himself and dropping his wand and having to resummon it twice, he was finally able to free his arm, and then it was a fairly simple matter to free himself and the others.

Hermione went straight to the window and opened it retrieving the wand that was still trying to get in. Neville looked around, still not saying anything. Professor Lupin, however, began to speak quickly. "Listen up, we don't have a lot of time before I transform and you three need to be gone before that happens. There is a little more happening than it appears, someone sabotaged my wolfsbane today, which means that there was someone at the school who was in on this little plot. The three of you need to get back up to the school and get to safety."

He picked up his wand from where LeStrange had left it and quickly cast a few spells. There was now a thick ring of metal around his neck that was attached to a chain, the other end of which was secured to the same support beams that the three teens had been hung from only minutes before.

"Here, take this." Lupin held out his wand to Neville.

"I can't take your wand." Neville shook his head, refusing to take it.

"I won't be able to use it tonight and my wolf form would probably use it as a chew toy anyway." He pushed the wand at Neville. "As your Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, I'm telling you you don't go without a weapon when a murderer is after you, if you can help it. And as your professor it is my duty to do what I can to keep you safe, so you will take my wand and give it back to me tomorrow." The tone the professor used was enough to get Neville to take the wand.

Professor Lupin looked out of the window at the setting sun and winced. "You three need to go now. There are only a few minutes left until the moon rises. Don't take the passageway back, it's too narrow to avoid any spells that are shot at you."

"But we don't know where we are!" protested Hermione.

"We are in the Shrieking Shack. Now, out the window, go!"

The three teens opened the window and found a convenient tree there for them to climb down. "At least this tree isn't trying to squish me," Harry whispered as he led the way down. Harry had been worried about Neville climbing down as his roommate tended to be quite clumsy at the best of times; however, maybe as a result of his interest in herbology, Neville had the least trouble of the three of them climbing down the old oak.

They had just reached the road that led down to the village when they heard a howl from the shack telling them that Lupin had transformed. They started to walk quickly down the old unkempt road when Hermione stopped them. "How long do you think it will take for them to realise that we escaped when they don't hear our screams?"

"Bloody bollocks! We need to get off the road and run!" Harry's tone left no room for arguments and the three of them started off towards the castle as fast as they could, taking a much more direct route than the road.

A/N:- Neville's wand was his father's and his father was defeated by Bellatrix LeStrange on the night she put him in St. Mungo's for the rest of his life. Defeating a Wix can cause their wand to change loyalty. It's pretty much canon that Neville wasn't good at magic because the wand wasn't his, so it's my headcanon that the wand is loyal to Bellatrix.

I now have a tip jar at dot com forward slash lowten86 if anyone is interested in thowing me a few pennies to help me get through covid.


	43. Chapter 43 - of rats and madwomen p2

**Chapter 43 of rats and mad women pt2**

The three teens leaned against a tree trying to get their breath back. Harry ached all over, the injuries he had already taken tonight did not take kindly to him running across the Scottish countryside, in the dark, while being hunted by a complete psycho bitch. But as bad has he had it, it looked like Hermione had it worse than him.

His girlfriend was a lot of things. Intelligent, determined and cute to name just a few, but one word he didn't think he would ever use to describe her was athletic. He loved his bookworm, but a cross country run like this was not what she was built for. She wasn't overweight but her figure had more to do with her parents crusade against sugar than it had to do with regular exercise.

Neville was doing better than him and Hermione . He wasn't exactly sporty himself but his interest in herbology had led to a lot of work digging and carrying heavy bags of fertilizer for Professor Sprout. Neville had also avoided the punishment that Harry had taken over the last few hours.

"We need to keep moving." Neville sounded worried, his eyes darting around looking for LeStrange.

"Just a sec." Hermione panted out between heavy breaths. "I need to catch my breath."

Harry didn't say anything. He was too occupied listening to the darkness trying to hear if someone was coming.

"Maybe we should go to Hogsmeade instead? It's closer than the school." Neville asked as he looked between the lights they could see in the distance from the two locations.

Hermione looked like she liked that idea but before she could say anything Harry spoke. "It's better to go to school. Hopefully LeStrange will assume that the village being closer is where we'll go, and we can get back to the school before they catch up with us. And don't forget, Uncle Moony said that we should go back to the castle."

"Why do you keep referring to Professor Lupin as Uncle Moony?" Neville asked.

"He was one of my dad's best friends. Apparently they all had nicknames, and Professor Lupin was Moony. And when I was a kid, that's what my parents had me call him: 'Uncle Moony,'" Harry explained as he watched Hermione try to get her breath back. They couldn't afford to wait around for too long. "We need to get moving." Hermione looked like she wanted to refuse but didn't fight Harry on it. Neville just stood up ready to leave.

"We'll need to take it slower, I don't want to be completely exhausted if they catch up with us." Harry said as he looked at Hermione. She didn't look like she could run anymore even if LeStrange was right behind them and he wasn't going to leave her behind.

They set off staying close to trees and bushes that surrounded the dales they were crossing, hoping that the foliage would make them harder to spot, as the light of the full moon lit up the countryside too much for them to risk openly crossing the fields that lay between the castle and the village. They pressed on towards the castle but it was slow going. Harry was worried about Hermione, he didn't know what LeStrange had done to her before Harry had gotten there, but given that Hermione wasn't quite like herself he seriously doubted that LeStrange had been singing her a lullaby.

They continued on to Hogwarts until they found the outer wall looming in front of them. They had approached from the side rather than taking the road that led to the main gate, reasoning that if someone was looking for them they would be found easily. This meant they still had to walk almost a quarter of the school perimeter until they reached the gate. All three of them wished they had some chocolate. They were way closer than was comfortable to the patrol routes of the Dementors and the warm summer evening felt bitterly cold against their exposed skin.

The only warning they had that something was wrong was the sound of a snapping twig. Harry didn't even think about it. He tackled Hermione and Neville, sending all three of them to the ground, narrowly avoiding the purple curse that suddenly lit-up the space where Harry's head had been only a half second before and splashed harmlessly against the old cobblestone wall that had stood for about a thousand years.

"Oh it looks like I win our little game of hide and seek!"

Harry didn't hesitate, he rolled away from his two friends and was on his feet again in seconds, the _Incendio_ spell that had served him best in his encounters so far flying from his lips and wand with ease and lighting up the darkness.

Harry continued to move sideways away from the tangle of limbs that were still trying to catch up to the change in their situation. Spells were coming at him from inside the sudden large fire. The crackling of the fire was too loud for Harry to hear the incantations of the spells coming his way, but they were far enough away that he had plenty of time to react so there was little trouble in avoiding them. Because he had already moved away from Neville and Hermione, the spells hit random trees and rocks that covered the area. With the number of spells being shot at Harry, he guessed that both LeStrange and Malfoy were in the flames. one would have to be doing the flame freezing charm, while the other tried to curse him.

Harry was pretty much stuck, he couldn't try a different spell without stopping the fire and stopping the fire would give them a clear shot at Hermione and Neville. He couldn't even move further from his friends as that would put trees between him and the psycho making his flames useless. "Mione! Neville! I could really use a hand here!" The desperation was clear in Harry's voice as he shouted. Harry couldn't see if they were listening to him without looking away from where LeStrange and Draco were, and with the number of spells he was having to dodge that would be suicide. He couldn't hear anything over the flames so he couldn't even be sure they had heard him.

It took what felt like a few minutes and having to dodge another few volleys of spells that were fired at him, but Harry suddenly felt relieved when he saw spells coming from behind him and disappearing into the bright flames. Either Hermione or Neville had gotten back into the fight. Harry suspected Hermione; the spells were too consistent from what he expected from Neville. Judging by what the spells looked like as they entered Harry's flames, they were cutting charms and Hermione had used those against LeStrange on Halloween.

Harry suddenly realised that he and Hermione were in the same situation as they were then. LeStrange was being held off by Harry, unable to do anything but hold back the flames. Harry was determined that the results of Halloween would not be repeated. He wouldn't let Hermione be hurt this time. The flames Harry was producing grew in intensity in response to Harry's determination. Harry wasn't going to let up and he wasn't going to stand close enough for someone to land a cheap shot on him. He had learned his lessons from their last encounters.

Only this wasn't the same LeStrange he had fought twice now. That LeStrange was alone, and using a stolen wand that never accepted her. This LeStrange had a wand that worked perfectly fine for her and an accomplice that could help. Hidden as they were in the fire, Harry didn't see LeStrange get Malfoy to take over the flame freezing charm so that she would be free to act. Lestrange was a veteran of the blood war so when Harry used fire again LeStrange had been expecting it and the flame freezing charm she cast was in place almost before Harry's incendio. It took her a few minutes to get Malfoy's attention to get him to take over the flame freezing. But now that she had, she was free to act.

The only indication that Harry had that something changed was that the spells coming towards him suddenly got a lot more accurate and the colour of the magic had a lot less variety. Harry dodged as best as he could but there were a few that were way too close for comfort. When he dodged a bolt of a very familiar and distinct sickening shade of green, he was glad that the spells were aimed at him and not Hermione.

Unfortunately Harry's luck didn't hold as a red spell came shooting out of the flames. The red light was harder to see against the light coming from the fire and he didn't see it in time to dodge. When the spell hit, his body erupted in pain. It was like every nerve in his body was dropped into a vat of boiling acid, just like the first time on Halloween, yet this was on a completely different level. There was nothing but the pain, pain so intense that instead of going silent (as was his regular reaction to pain after growing up under Vernon Dursley's belt) he screamed. It was all consuming and if he could have thought about anything it would be that he wanted it to stop. How he would pay any price asked if the pain would just stop.

He didn't know if it was seconds, minutes, or hours later but the pain finally faded away, leaving his muscles aching from where he had seized up and his throat sore from screaming. It was so much worse this time than it was at Halloween. There were voices around him but he couldn't focus until he heard something he never wanted to hear. To call it a scream would never do it justice. It was almost inhuman, a shriek of agony as its maker begged for its suffering to end, and tore into Harry's heart. it was Hermione's voice.

That scream pulled Harry's attention back to the fight that was going on around him. It didn't matter how much his muscles protested, Hermione needed him. He looked up and could see the red lance of magic that connected Hermione to LeStrange's wand. In an instant of realization he understood that Hermione was experiencing what he just had. A Cruciatus curse, not from an incompatible wand fighting the person wearing it, like he had expected on Halloween, but one from a witch who fought openly on the front lines of the blood war wielding a wand that was completely compatible with her.

How Neville's wand was compatible with the psycho bitch was a question for another time, right now he had to save Hermione. He pointed his wand at LeStrange, lucky that he had unconsciously held onto it during his turn under the curse, and cast the first spell that popped into his head. "_EXPELLIARMUS_!"

LeStrange was too focused on Hermione to see Harry move and the spell hit LeStrange in her stomach. Her wand went flying in one direction, breaking the spell that Hermione was suffering under, while LeStrange was thrown away from them due to how much Harry had overcharged the spell. "Get away from her you psycho bitch!"

Harry's throat protested the shouting but Harry didn't care. Malfoy, who had been watching fascinatedly as Hermione was tortured, turned to Harry and let off a string of hexes. Harry tried to get out of the way but his muscles were still not responding quite right and he got hit with a jelly-legs jinx. Harry didn't even bother trying to stand, he just rolled to his right just in time to avoid another spell aimed at him. He tried to blast Malfoy with another _Expelliarmus_ but he couldn't aim and roll at the same time, and Malfoy was firing spells as fast as he could to keep Harry on the defensive. Gash after gash appeared in the landscape as Malfoy's cutting charm failed to find its mark.

Harry could do nothing but watch while dodging Malfoy's spells as LeStrange picked herself up and calmly walked over to the fallen wand and picked it up. He tried to hit her with another Disarming Charm but rolling on the floor while your legs were doing everything except what you wanted was not a situation that led to accuracy. His spell did catch Malfoy somehow, knocking him from his feet and sending his wand flying. But it didn't matter.

Seeing her ally hit, LeStrange had walked towards Harry firing off spells as fast as she could, keeping Harry from fighting back as he dodged. He had less time to react with every step forward LeStrange took, until the inevitable happened and he was hit with an _Incarcerous_. Suddenly he was tied up in enough rope that he resembled a mummy.

LeStrange quickly also tied up Hermione and Neville. Hermione was still trying to recover from her own bout of torture and put up little resistance to being restrained, but she did way better than Neville, who it turned out was unconscious. Given the small trickle of blood that ran down his face from his forehead he must have hit his head when Harry had tackled him.

"Not bad nephew. You still need to learn to harness true magic, but you show some promise." LeStrange praised the blond git.

"Thank you Auntie Bella." Malfoy answered as he picked himself up and brushed the dirt from his robes.

A wide smile sped across LeStrange's face. It was not a warm welcome smile aimed at her nephew but a sick, predatory smile aimed at Harry that did nothing but show how crazy she is. "Pick up your wand, Draco, and I will teach you how to do your first bit of real magic."

Harry's inside went cold. He could see what was about to happen and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He couldn't call his wand with the ring while LeStrange was watching him so intensely, she would disarm him again before he could get free. He glanced over at Hermione and could see that she understood as well; there were tears flowing freely down her face and she was desperately trying to get free. He could see her wand trying to get to her hand but her hand was tied too close to her body for her to grip the wand.

Malfoy returned with his wand and he looked at Harry as though Harry was something disgusting he found on the bottom of his shoe.

"Good Draco, good. Now what do you know about true magic?" She was almost calling with glee.

"It's like wandless magic, it needs emotions fitting for the spell." Malfoy reported almost immediately, obviously eager to learn from the bitch.

"Yes! Now we are going to interrogate Potter to find out how they escaped and ruined our entertainment." She kicked Harry in the stomach. "Pain is an excellent way to loosen someone's tongue. What emotions do you think will bring real pain? What will you use to fire your first _Cruciatus_?" She was whispering by the end almost sounding like she was talking about something sensual instead of torturing information out of a teenager.

"Hatred, loathing, disgust." Malfoy sounded like he was psyching himself up to feel those things. Harry was struggling against the ropes but they were too strong.

"Excellent Draco. You need to really feel it. To know that this disgusting piece of filth truly deserves it. Like this, _crucio_!"

Harry's world was once more nothing but pain. Mind numbing all consuming agony that left nothing but the desire to end the pain. Then it was over. Harry tried to look around, but couldn't see much. He had thrown his glasses while spasming in pain and his eyes had filled with tears. With the only light being from the full moon in the sky and a few small fires from his earlier _incendio_, this left him functionally blind in a world of dark blurs. He could hear perfectly well though and Hermione was screaming his name, begging them to stop hurting him.

"Why don't you give it a go, Draco?" LeStrange encouraged him.

Draco did exactly as his aunt instructed only for nothing to happen. Harry wasn't surprised, from what LeStrange had said the curse was just as advanced as the patronus charm and no-one performed a spell that advanced on their first try. His second and third attempts were no more effective. On his fourth Harry finally felt something, there was an itch, almost a burning sensation, in the small area of his chest that Malfoy had his wand pointed at.

It wasn't enough to get Harry to react at all. Harry could see that Malfoy was annoyed with his lack of results. "Having performance issues Malfoy?" Harry instantly regretted that choice. Harry's taunting had galvanized Malfoy's emotions and his next crucio was a lot more effective, this time Harry had to fight not to react to the pain. It was nowhere close to even the diminished curse that he had experienced on Halloween, but it still wasn't exactly pleasant.

The pattern continued for a while, Draco trying again and again each time improving marginally yet never reaching his aunt's level even with an incompatible wand.

_**-ϟϟϟ-**_

Auror Moonshine was checking one of the Hogwarts upper floors. About forty minutes ago Professor McGonagall had approached him telling him that three of her students were missing. Apparently a couple of her Gryffindors had told her that three of her students hadn't returned to the common room for curfew. Normally this wouldn't be that big of a deal, just a case of giving the students detention when they turned up again.

The problem was that the three students that had gone missing were a Miss Granger, the next head of the Longbottom family, and _the_ Harry Potter. The three of them had already been attacked by the escaped convict LeStrange. That was why there was currently always an auror at the school, not to police the students but to look for the Azkaban escapee. Auror Moonshine had immediately started looking around the school for either a sign of the teens or for anything that might explain what had happened to them.

The thing about great big balls of fire in the middle of the night is that they are easy to spot and they tend to draw the attention of law enforcement. Moonshine cursed the school's anti-teleportation ward's and began to run. The fire was not close to him at all; he would have to descend from the castle, cross the grounds and then run around the outside wall. Despite being in his mid twenties and keeping fit for his job, the trip to the place he had seen the fire was located was not quick. As soon as Moonshine had crossed the ward barrier at the school gate he called a couple of dementors with a quick flick of his wand. He didn't wait for them though knowing that they would catch up soon. Instead, he began jogging around the outer wall of the school.

When he arrived on the scene, Moonshine was dismayed to see the three teens on the floor, with two people standing over them. For a brief moment he thought that the teens were dead. Then he realised that one of the two standing was trying to use the torture curse on one of the downed teens. It was only then he saw that two of the teens were moving, one wriggling under the effect of the torture curse and one was trying to get to the one being tortured. So at least two of them were alive.

"You need to really feel it, Draco. But don't just focus on the disgust, try to enjoy it. This bit of filth deserves this and you should feel good about dishing out the pain it deserves." It was LeStrange and by the sound of it she was teaching someone to do the _Cruciatus_, using the-boy-who-lived as as victim

"_Crucio_!" That one yelled, and from his voice Moonshine could tell it was another teenager. He winced; there were some parts of this job he loved but arresting this teen for using an unforgivable wasn't going to be one of them. Handing someone so young to the dementors was never pretty. He had seen it once before a young wizard who used potions to control his parents. There was a moment when the teen realized what was going to happen to him and suddenly you could see just how young and afraid he was.

About two seconds after the blond teen had cast his spell, Moonshine announced himself. "D.M.L.E Auror, lay down your wands and surrender, you are under arrest!"

_**-ϟϟϟ-**_

Suddenly the dull pain in Harry's chest stopped, as a surprised Malfoy turned to look behind him. Harry looked past him and saw an auror with his wand raised and pointed directly at LeStrange.

Harry's heart started doing cartwheels before it plunged into a hole. For a second it looked like they would be saved, but instead LeStrange lifted her wand and fired at the red-robed auror. The auror, though, seemed to expect this and sidestepped the spell before it could hit him. He fired back, and over the next minute red and green were exchanged between the two. LeStrange seemed to have the upper hand, with the auror half-hiding behind a tree that had been alive at the start of the fight but had died after being struck by one of LeStrange's spells.

While everyone was focused on LeStrange and the auror, Harry was able to summon his wand. A quick all-purpose counterspell and a severing charm later, the jinx on his legs was finally ended and he was unbound. LeStrange was too focused on the auror to pay any attention to him, maybe she thought Harry couldn't escape or that Malfoy would guard him until she was finished with the member of the D.M.L.E. it didn't really matter what she thought, she was wrong. Harry was able to free himself and Malfoy had frozen.

Harry was just about to cast a spell when LeStrange sidestepped another red bolt of magic from the auror, and seeing his chance Harry took it. He twisted himself around a little and kicked out as hard as he could to the back of her knees. Taken by surprise, LeStrange went down hard. Her knees hit the ground denting the soft earth. She quickly turned to face Harry a look of fury etched on her face. She raised her wand and was just about to cast on Harry when there was a flash of red light and she went limp. The auror had finally hit her with the red spell he was firing and she had fallen unconscious. Then Malfoy had fallen down next to her as he was hit with another red spell.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and crawled over to Hermione and pulled her into his arms. It took the two of them almost five minutes to calm down enough to do anything. They had been riding an adrenaline high while dealing with LeStrange, and with her and Malfoy finally being unconscious Harry and Hermione had crashed. Hermione had dissolved into tears, clinging to Harry as though she was afraid she wouldn't be able to ever again. Harry had held together somewhat better but was still holding Hermione to him so tightly that she would probably have as few bruises in the morning. Both of them would have refused to let go of anyone had tried to get him to, but he two were left to pull themselves together.

It took a while but eventually the two pulled themselves together enough that they started to worry about Neville. They found that the auror was tending to him, Neville was awake and was insisting that he be allowed to check on Harry and Hermione.

"I'm fine, just a little headache. Let me go check on my friends!" Neville insisted.

"Mr. Longbottom, you have a head injury and a concussion. You will remain right where you are. Your friends are awake and responsive. You were unconscious when I arrived, you are the first priority. Now sit down and let me deal with your concussion." Neville looked like he was going to ague about it until Hermione spoke up.

"He is right Neville head injuries are nothing to dismiss." Hermione, who still had her head buried in Harry's chest, added as she slowly started to calm down.

"See, your friends are OK, now hold still."

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

"All aurors have basic magical first aid training. We're not fully qualified healers but we are taught enough to keep you stable till you can get to the healers." The red robed auror explained. "So Mr. Longbottom? Are you a relation of Frank and Alice Longbottom?" the auror asked, a dark look coming over his face as his gaze switched between Neville and the unconscious woman lying only a few feet from them, her hands secured behind her back in magic blocking manacles.

"They are my parents," answered Neville in a quiet voice.

"I'm sorry, kid. Your father is a legend with the old guard back at auror headquarters." It was only now that any of the teenagers took notice of the auror's age. He was in his mid twenties, he couldn't have been a full auror for more than a couple of years.

The auror continued to patch up Neville as best he could as Harry and Hermione picked themselves up. Harry looked at the two unconscious _people _bound on the ground and felt his anger rising. "Don't do it kid. It's not worth getting chucked into Azkaban for." The auror said as he worked on Neville. It was only then that Harry realized that he had his wand pointed at LeStrange the spell for cutting echoing through his mind.

He wanted to end her for everything she had done. She was one of Voldemort's people, she had helped him kill so many, she had taken Neville's parents and condemned his friend to having to see the shells that were left of the people who should have raised him. She had taken Harry's godmother, condemning him to a life at the Dursleys. She had touched him, and more importantly she had hurt Hermione. Every instinct was telling him that the world would be a safer place for the few people he cared about, that he should just do it and accept whatever happens.

"She deserves it. For everything she has done, she deserves it!" Harry could feel himself working up to it.

"You're probably right kid." The auror had finished with Neville now and was standing with his wand pointed at Harry. "But you don't have the right to make that choice. This isn't a duel or a fight anymore. She is bound and helpless, it's up to the Wizengamot what happens now."

"Harry." Hermione's voice was barely over a whisper. "Don't do this please. Don't get yourself taken away from me. Please Harry, I need you." Hermione gently put her hand over the top of the hand Harry was holding his wand in and pushed his hand down with almost no force. It struck Harry what he had almost done and suddenly he was on his knees throwing up. Hermione next to him was rubbing his back.

"Good choice kid." The auror said as he vanished the sick from the floor and the front of Harry's robes. "Even if you had gotten off, and with your fame and with everything she has done it was possible, that decision would have followed you for the rest of your life."

"Come on Harry, let's get you back up to the castle. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey has your bed waiting for you." Neville joked as he put Harry's left arm (the one not clutching tightly to his wand) around his shoulder and levered Harry to his feet.

A/N

Sorry for the slow update. Too much hit me all at once. My tablet is not working properly any more, I'm off my anxiety/depression med because they are giving me a stomach ulcer. Which also means that I can't take my painkillers. and to top it all off my dentist has closed due to COVID and I have a tooth infection.

So while I have been trying to deal with all of that my fic just got put on the back burner. Fic is not dead and I am still working away at it.


	44. Chapter 44 - of rats and madwomen p3

Hey guys sorry, this chapter is so late. I had wanted to post it earlier but stuff happened for me and my beta and things got delayed. So again sorry. The good news is chapters 45 and 46 are written and just need my long-suffering beta to make them readable (seriously Phineas you are amazing, I couldn't do this without you.)

First, as you guys can tell this fic is very near the end of the third year. In fact, chapter 46 is chapter 1 of the next book. On ao3 I'm going to make a second story because they link together well in their system. but on fanfiction, I would like for my readers to choose. Would you prefer the second book get its own listing or would you just like me to continue posting in the same listing. Just pm me your preference

I have had a couple of really nice reviews recently and thanks to everyone's sympathy over the problems I mentioned having. Still not in a good place with my tooth. My dentist is still not taking appointments. Though I did get a course of antibiotics from him that have calmed the problem somewhat. But i can't wait for Rona to leave so i can go see my dentist.

But I can always use more reviews, as shallow as it sounds they do keep me motivated

Oh and if anyone other can block JK from twitter before she destroys the fandom that would be great

Chapter 44 - of rats and madwomen pt 3

The six people began the long walk back up to the school. Harry was being held up by both Hermione and Neville, though they were holding onto him now more for emotional support than physical. The young Auror, who had introduced himself as Auror Moonshine, was complaining to himself as he marched the two prisoners in front of everyone else. The backup he had called for hadn't turned up, and he was going to have to do a LARGE amount of parchment work when he got back to the ministry.

LeStrange was cursing everyone at the top of her voice, saying that she "will have each of you begging at my feet when my lord returns." Malfoy was being uncharacteristically quiet. He hadn't once said to the Auror, "You're gonna be sorry", "Do you know who I am?" or "When my father hears about this."

The walk back to the school gate was uneventful, though slow. Despite the moon being full, the odd cloud blocked out the light making the uneven ground a little tricky to walk over. They were through the gate soon enough, however, and their pace picked up as they crossed the more even kept grounds of Hogwarts. The chill in the air made Harry, Hermione and Neville regret their lack of cloaks. The warmer weather was here with the start of summer just around the corner, but it was still Scotland and the night could get chilly throughout the year.

Harry wondered what was going to happen with Malfoy and LeStrange. The rumour going around the school was that the Prophet had published a story stating Minister Fudge had given the Dementors a Kiss-on-sight order for LeStrange. But LeStrange had been caught by an Auror, not a Dementor, so would they just chuck her to the dementors or would there be a hearing of some type?

And what of Malfoy? He would need to go in front of the Wizengamot for sure, would Harry, Neville, and Hermione have to testify? Probably, Harry couldn't imagine that the Wizengamot would try Malfoy without witnesses for either the defence or the prosecution. Maybe the defence counsel will plead they need LeStrange to be kept whole so that she can testify in Malfoy's favour? That seemed like the kind of trick the Malfoys would come up with, and LeStrange was their family, from both what Auror Tonks had said and the fact that she was calling Malfoy "nephew".

Harry shivered from the cold. He pulled Hermione closer to himself and covered them both with a warming charm. Hermione murmured her thanks as she cuddled into his side. He was glad that despite how bad the night had been he had gone to get Hermione back. Harry couldn't easily imagine life without his cuddle-meister, and it would be cold and empty, like having a Dementor as a roommate. He shivered again at the thought and pulled Hermione tighter into him.

They were halfway to the castle before anyone realized that the chill in the air was more than just the night air. Harry looked around for them while he checked his robe pockets for a bit of chocolate. There was none available. It wasn't long until they were spotted, the five dark-hooded figures gliding over to the group. The Dementors left a faint fog of chilled moisture in their wake, but Auror Moonshine turned and started the group right towards the nightmare-inducing abominations.

"About fuc- uh, about bloody time they showed up!" he almost swore worse but corrected himself as he eyed the group of teens. He obviously didn't want to swear so strongly in front of them, which amused both Harry and Hermione who had heard worse coming from people half their age. "I'll be glad when all of them are sent back to Azkaban where they belong. I don't know what the hell Fudge was thinking, letting these damn things around people." Auror Moonshine ranted. He cast a Patronus as they heard the group of Dementors. It was a flimsy joke of a Patronus, even to Harry and Hermione who hadn't perfected theirs yet. They had given up the Patronus lessons after the last half-term break, choosing instead to focus on preparing for their exams.

During their last lesson with Professor Lupin, they still couldn't get their Patronus's form's to coalesce. They did get an impression about the forms, but that was all. Hermione thought hers looked to be some type of big cat, while Harry thought his might be a horse or something similar. The Patronus Auror Moonshine called forth was just a cloud of silvery mist that surrounded them. It warded off some of the Dementors' effects, but Harry could still feel that empty void creeping into his chest. Harry wanted to cast his own Patronus to push back the vile things but suspected that Auror Moonshine had cast a low-power variety of the spell intentionally. He wanted to hold off the effect that the Dementors had on people, not chase them away.

"You lot took your time. I called you about half an hour ago to help me catch LeStrange and you come gliding over here after I have done the job."

Harry didn't know how he expected the dementors to respond. He knew they couldn't talk, and he guessed they must have some way of communicating with the ministry. What Harry wasn't expecting was sign language.

It wasn't the same sign language he saw on TV occasionally, relaying what was being said for the deaf. It was still obvious that the precise moments that the bony extremities covered in decaying flesh that the Dementors called hands, were communicating with the Auror.

"No, you can't have her now." Auror Moonshine shaped.

More gesturing from the Dementors as their presence slowly sucked the warmth from them all.

"I don't give two shits what the Minister said. I just caught her teaching someone to use an Unforgivable! Her statements are needed to try his case so she is coming back to the Ministry with me!" Moonshine was half shouting by the end.

The largest of the horrors pointed at both LeStrange and Malfoy, accompanied with another set of hand gestures.

"No I will not just give you both of them!"

A shudder passed through the three unbound teens as they realized what the Dementors wanted. Harry noticed that Draco, while still silent, was trembling in fear. LeStrange was shouting something about gathering all the mudblood filth in the school and bribing the Dementors to join her with them. Auror Moonshine quickly lost his patience with her and with a flick of her wand she was gagged.

"Why not?! Why not?! I'll tell you why not! Because every Wix has the right to a trial before execution that's why not! As you well know. No, my word is final. You can put in a request with the D.M.L.E., it won't take long and she will be sent to the dinner table for you. That is the procedure, and you'll probably be given this" he jostled Malfoy "for your larder as well."

Harry was a little sick at the slang the Auror used. He remembered the first time he heard it, Trainee Auror Tonks (LeStrange's niece) had referred to 'the dinner table'; he hadn't understood the reference at the time, but once he learned about the Dementors' Kiss it made sense. With that as context, it wasn't much of a leap to understand that 'the larder' was how Auror Moonshine referred to Azkaban. Neither Harry nor Hermione really liked how disrespectful it was to be so light with the topic. It's one thing to put people there if they deserve it for their crimes but it wasn't a topic to joke about.

The dementors left after finishing their talk with Auror Moonshine. "Bloody bottom feeders. Makes me sick." He cursed as they left. He reached into his robes and pulled out a hand full of chocolate quaffles and gave one each to Harry, Hermione and Neville before selecting one for himself.

Hermione looked at the chocolate ball in her hand and then at Malfoy and LeStrange. "What about those two?" Her voice didn't hold any conviction like she didn't feel they deserved the remedy, but she felt she had to ask.

"Prisoners don't get Dementor remedies unless they are about to be interviewed or go in front of the Wizengamot. The effect of the Dementors is part of their punishment. D.M.L.E. rules."

"Then why before interviews and going in front of the Wiizengamot?" Hermione asked, more curious than anything else. She popped the ball of cheap chocolate into her mouth after she asked her question.

"They need clear heads for interviews and to defend themselves in court. It's difficult to hold a fair trial when the defendant is a jibbering wreck." Auror Moonshine explained.

Harry thought about that. "Wait, people are sent to Azkaban before they get a trial?" Harry asked, offended by the injustice.

The Auror looked at him. "No, most remain at the ministry til' after their trials. But often there is more than one trial. For example, new evidence may come to light and there has to be a new trial or we may find that someone in Azkaban had committed more crimes before they were caught than they were convicted of. And then, sometimes prisoners are summoned to give evidence in another trial. Only people who are considered extremely dangerous are housed at Azkaban before being given a trial."

Harry snorted in disgust. He remembered that Hagrid had been sent to Azkaban without any trial for attacking students last year, a crime for which he was completely innocent. Hagrid had spent months in the hellhole that was what passed for a prison in the magical world and even though Hagrid hadn't really said anything about it Harry knew he was still affected by his time there.

"And what happens if the person you send to Azkaban before they get a trial is innocent? Then you have tortured them for nothing?" Harry demanded.

"Doesn't happen kid. If they are sent to Azkaban early it means there is enough evidence that the trial is just a formality, or they attacked a D.M.L.E. officer and that will get them sent to Azkaban anyways."

"It happened last year. Hagrid was sent to Azkaban for attacking students and he was innocent!" Harry was again half shouting.

The Auror nodded. "We know that he was innocent now but not at the time, remember that he had a conviction on record for accidentally causing the death of a student. A conviction he never served any time for, so for Mr. Hagrid it wasn't a case of being imprisoned without any trial but closer to a violation of parole."

Harry didn't have a comeback for that. He still felt that sending anyone to the merciless care of the dementors without first proving they were guilty was wrong.

They started back towards the castle again. As much as Harry hated the hospital wing, he was almost looking forward to Madam Pomfrey taking care of his injuries. Not because of her friendly bedside manner, but because he hurt. With the injuries that the Whomping Willow gave him, followed by not one but two fights with LeStrange, then followed by Malfoy using him to learn the Cruciatus curse, he wasn't surprised that almost every part of his body was protesting that he was still moving. A part of him just wanted to lie down where he was and just go to sleep.

The castle stood in the distance as they tracked towards it. A number of the windows were lit up with warm candlelight and the glow of the castle was charming. The only thing that broke the picture of serenity was the small shape that was rushing towards them. Harry couldn't tell because of the darkness but it looked to be the size of a small cat.

Harry walked towards it a few steps trying to see what it was. At first Harry wondered if it was Crookshanks coming to greet Hermione, only as it got closer he realised it was smaller and darker coloured than Mione's idling motorbike with fur. Harry was just about to warn everyone that something was headed for than when he recognised the shape.

"Hey Mione look it's Scabbers!" Harry pointed at Ron's rat that was now only about thirty feet from them. Hermione, Neville and Auror Moonshine all turned to look at the approaching shape just in time to watch as the rat started to grow and shift and in the space of a few seconds there was a man charging towards them in place of Scabbers.

Auror Moonshine was quick, his training kicked in and the response to being rushed by an unknown individual was well drilled into him. Unfortunately, the one thing Auror Moonshine didn't have time to do was aim. He pointed his wand and yelled "stupify!" The red spell was just wide, missing Scabbers by less than an inch.

Scabbers, or the man pretending to be Scabbers, raised his wand in retaliation and yelled "Avada Kedavra!" The spell shot from the short stubby wand he pointed towards them, and the eerily familiar green of the spell passed Harry and struck something behind him, and there was a thump as something hit the floor. Harry froze. He knew that spell. It had haunted his nightmares for his entire life. First as an uneasy flash of green and then more vividly since the quidditch match against Hufflepuff. He knew what the spell had done. He was terrified, he didn't want to see what had happened.

Images of Hermione laying on the ground, unmoving, totally absent the signs of vitality and energy that she often showed, The thought of her never again cuddling up to him while she read a book, they all flashed through Harry's mind. A part of him, a selfish part, prayed that it was anyone else rather than Hermione. For a second he dreaded telling Madam Longbottom her grandson was dead and that her family was gone, yet that felt as if it would be instantly easier than faceting Dan and Emma without Hermione.

Harry's panic was interrupted by a scream of pure terror. It was chilling and set Harry's teeth on edge, yet at the same time, he felt a part of him relax. It was Hermione's scream, and that meant she was alive.

Another few clicks of the man's wand and the shackles holding LeStrange and Malfoy were clattering to the ground and the spell keeping her silent was removed. Harry turned around at the sound of the manacles hitting the floor. The first thing he felt was an overwhelming sense of relief; not only was Hermione standing but so was Neville, and both of them were staring at the body of Auror Moonshine. Then, Harry was filled with a sense of dread. The Auror was dead, LeStrange and Malfoy were freed. There was now a third person helping the two and this person obviously had no problems with killing, and LeStrange was diving for the body of Auror Moonshine, evidently intent on getting back the wand she had taken from Neville.

Harry did the only thing he could think of, the only thing that made any sense to him. He dove at LeStrange with all his might, knocking them both to the ground. Harry may be tired he may be hurting, but he knew that if LeStrange got her hands on a wand it was over. Harry's desperation gave him a strength that was able to match LeStrange, which considering 12 years in Azkaban and a year on the run wasn't that great, yet she was no pushover either.

Harry punched and kicked at the woman as they rolled around on the ground, ignoring her biting and scratching at him only guarding his eyes. He barely even noticed when Malfoy started to kick him in the back, and he was completely oblivious to the fight Hermione was having with the Scabbers impersonator as the two dodged the spells thrown at each other. Malfoy threw himself to the floor then and covered his head hoping that he would be forgotten in the fighting and Neville was crawling over to Auror Moonshine's body in the hope to retrieve the wands before LeStrange could get to them.

Even with the adrenaline-fueled desperation, Harry wasn't able to keep up his attack for long. He was just running on empty and there was little he could do to keep going. His scrap with LeStrange soon shifted from attacking to defending, and as LeStrange gained more of an upper hand, from defending to barely protecting himself at all.

Harry used the last of his strengths and pushed LeStrange off him, he rolled so that he was above her and he went for her neck. He put his hands around her throat and squeezed as hard as he could. She fought back, trying to push him off, but Harry resisted, turning his face up to keep his eyes safe from LeStrange's nails. Her flailing scratches were getting weaker but Harry held on. He was fully aware of what happened when he showed this creature any kind of mercy. If he let go before she was truly unconscious or even dead, she would kill all three of them. He thought of Hermione and how she had been hurt and drew on his last reserves of will and held on. Harry knew once he was finished with LeStrange he wouldn't have anything left to deal with the wizard who had been a rat. As much as he wanted to help he would have to trust that Hermione or maybe Neville would take care of it.

Suddenly, the whole world started to spin rapidly before Harry could begin to understand what was happening. Pain bloomed as he was hit from multiple directions. His arms, back, shoulders, chest, legs, and every other part of his body collected a fresh layer of bruises on top of everything else that had happened tonight.

Soon the world stopped spinning and the hits stopped with it. It took Harry almost a full minute to get his thinking straight. It hadn't been the world spinning, it had been him, and the hits were from his body bouncing over the ground after a spell from the rat wizard knocked him off of LeStrange and away from everyone.

Harry tried to get up, but he just didn't have the strength left. He collapsed against the floor looking towards Hermione and Neville, hoping that he would see an unconscious LeStrange and a victorious Hermione. However, he only saw the strange wizard standing over LeStrange helping her to her feet, and Hermione and Neville both lying on the ground unmoving.

"Good evening Bella." The strange wizard had a high squeaky irritating voice that reminded Harry of a rat. Everything about this short balding wizard just screamed 'rat' to Harry

"You're late." LeStrange rasped.

"I was distracting the dementors to give you a shot at the boy." he looked at Harry with a strange expression on his face then flicked his wand at Harry and cast a full body bind. "You seem to have had some trouble."

"That dam Auror showed up and got in the way."

"He should have been werewolf kibble long before that. I told you all about Lupin's little cage, I told you about the passage in and out of the castle, I even told you about the damn Hippogriff's trial! What more do you need from me, to gift wrap the kid for you?!" The balding wizard ranted.

"I have no clue how he and the other brats escaped from the mutt but I will deal with it right now," LeStrange responded angrily. She raised her wand and pointed it at Harry, only for RatFace to slap her arm down.

"No, I told you the Dark Lord will want Potter for himself. You had your shot at the Longbottom kid, now we are doing this my way and we are leaving for the continent." There was a steel in the voice of the wizard that seemed out of place with his squeaky voice.

"Traitor! I should have known that you couldn't be trusted!" LeStrange screamed at him.

"I'm not the one putting off finding our master for her own personal little obsession. I told you months ago that he still lives and needs our aid. I told you he was here two years ago. It's time to return to our lord." Harry understood now, RatFace was another Death Eater and he intended to go help Voldemort return from being that strange vapour thing he had become.

LeStrange turned her wand on RatFace and he was sent flying across the grounds. "How dare you imply that I am disloyal. I spent a decade in Azkaban rather than deny my lord. I suffer for keeping faith while you hide as a rat getting fat on good food and having every need taken care of! You fucking traitor!" She bounced him over the grounds twice now as she ranted.

Harry took the opportunity while they were dictated to change a little power into his ring and summon his wand to his hand. It took three attempts for the wand to land so that it was pointed at him and with the wand touching his hand.

Harry had never even attempted silent casting before, he didn't even have a clear understanding of how it was done. He just started chanting the all-purpose dispelling charm in his head hoping it would work.

Finite incantatem

Finite incantatem

Finite incantatem

Finite incantatem

Finite incantatem

As he did this RatFace had gotten out his wand and was now fighting back, LeStrange was pulled into the air by one of her ankles and RatFace overconfident that he had the upper hand was suddenly found himself belching slugs.

Then two things happened at about the same time. Hermione who had also been trying to unfreeze herself from her own full-body-bind stood up and pointed her wand at LeStrange. Harry was flooded with relief, Hermione was still alive. Before Hermione could cast a spell on the witch hung in the air, however, the area around them was suddenly filled with Dementors as their dark forms flew out of the darkness, converging on the escaped convict and blocking Hermione's line of sight.

Hermione lowered her wand letting the abominations take care of LeStrange and the strange wizard. Hermione instead rushed over to Neville and after a quick muttering and a wave of her wand he was moving as well. Harry was glad that his friend was ok but the sight of Auror Moonshine's body kept him from feeling happy. He kept trying to release himself from the bind, still chanting the spell in his head as he watched one of the Dementors grab Malfoy and begin to draw in rattling breaths through its hood. The already pale teen drained of any remaining colour and his skin took on the shade of new parchment.

Harry felt his body relax; he had finally managed to silently cast the first-year spell and free himself from the full body bind. Ratface and LeStrange stopped fighting each other and turned on the Dementors. RatFace was first, throwing dangerous and deadly spells at the mockeries of life that were surrounding them, LeStrange righting herself and soon joining him. The night was transformed into a rainbow lightning storm as spell after spell lit up the area.

The Dementors were barely affected by the spells and kept coming. Harry had intended to stand up and go to Hermione and Neville, but instead, he got lost in his own head as the Dementors once again took him back to that night. The next thing he knew, he was being picked up by one of the Dementors. It grabbed the front of Harry's robes with one of its hands, lifting him until he was head height. Harry tried to fight it off but it was useless, he didn't have anywhere near the strength left to resist.

It used its other hand to pull back its hood, revealing a pale imitation of a face. There were no eyes, no nose, just pale scaly skin and a mouth that was more hole than anything else. It pulled Harry in closer, its face now mere inches away from him. Harry could faintly smell rotten meat. It brought it's head forward obviously intending to lock its jaws over Harry's mouth.

"Harry!" Harry heard Hermione scream his name.

Thinking of Hermione was enough to snap him out of the Dementors' influence enough. He focused on Hermione and with the final effort he could muster called his Patronus.

His Patronus wasn't much more than a feeble mist that leaked from his wand more than flowed, but it was enough to push back the evil thing. It didn't go far, however, only a few meters away, and it was soon joined by others. They were circling just outside the effect of the mist waiting for their opportunity to get through to him.

Hermione cast her own Patronus, but with so many Dementors around suppressing any happy thoughts, she was only able to call forth a mist. A number of the Dementors now focused on her. Even the one that was holding Malfoy dropped him in favour of stalking Hermione. That mist was still enough for her to act, and she grabbed Neville and pulled him over to Harry.

Hermione's Patronus merged with Harry's, pushing the dementors even further back. It did little to help as more of the disgusting vultures started circling around the three teens just waiting for their chance. Harry was trying to think of a solution but was shaken out of his thoughts when he was jostled from behind. Malfoy had run over to the three of them seeking protection from the Dementors.

Harry considered just throwing the vindictive little prick to the Dementors. It would serve him right for what he had done. The problem was that Harry just didn't have the strength left to do it. As long as he was just hiding in the Patronus mist from the Dementors, Harry had bigger things to worry about.

Harry looked around to see what RatFace and LeStrange were doing. The pair of them were still trying to overpower the few dementors that had remained focused on them, but their spells seemed to do little to slow down the demons.

"Harry, we need to do something!" Hermione's panicked voice pulled him back to his planning.

After about half a minute (that felt like half an hour) Harry had a plan that he thought might work. "Mione! Recast your Patronus while standing in the midst of my Patronus." She looked at him, not understanding why he wanted this. "Trust me." he finished.

At his words, Hermione just nodded and cancelled her Patronus. The mist instantly started to fade back to just what Harry was producing. The Dementors took the opportunity to close the gap between them and the four teens, some passing so close that Neville (who was closest to the edge) could have reached out and touched one if he was crazy enough. The mass of black cloaks grew so thick that Harry couldn't see past them.

"Expecto Patronum!" Hermione recast her Patronus. Harry was right, with Hermione being inside the effect of his own Patronus she was partly shielded from their effects and was able to call a much stronger Patronus. Like in their last lessons with Professor Lupin, Hermione was able to call her Patronus in an almost complete state. Harry could see that it was an animal, it had four legs and was powerfully built, but it was like an animal made from clouds and didn't have enough features to identify it.

The Patronus, though unfinished, was more powerful than the mist he and Hermione had called combined and the Dementors were pushed back. Harry cancelled his own Patronus and concentrated; if he could summon his own Patronus, even the incomplete one, they should be able to walk back to the castle.

He started by focusing on his memories of New Year's Eve, the elation he felt when Hermione and he had finally said those important words - 'I love you'. Then he added memories of the two of them in the Room of Requirement, searing French pastries on her birthday, ice skating on a frozen pond, the hot spring, and Hermione giving him a key to her home. He actually had a home now. He added in the small things: the two of them cuddled up on a sofa reading a book together, her smile over something as small as a pack of sweeteners, and of course the feel of her lips on his, sometimes soft and gentle, others rough and needy.

He took all these images and pushed them together until the only name that fit them was 'Hermione' - no, 'My Hermione'. Harry raised his wand, pointed it at the Dementors, moved the tip of his wand in a complete clockwise circle from 12 o'clock to 12 o'clock before bringing it straight down cutting the circle in two. As loud as he could, with every ounce of will he could still summon, he yelled "Expecto Patronum!"

For the first half, a second nothing happened, and Harry was terrified that his plan had doomed them all. Then a blindingly bright light burst forth from his wand, filling the area with its pure white glow and making stars dance in the eyes of everyone in the area. It took Harry a moment to clear his vision and when he did there in front of him watching him was a beautiful and proud stag.

The stag looked at him for a few moments almost like it was sizing Harry up. Harry did not know how to feel when it turned away from him and to Hermione's Patronus. The stag leaned down so that its face was level with the rough head of Hermione's Patronus and then he touched it with his nose, and Hermione's Patronus instantly flew apart into a mist. Hermione looked scandalized for a few seconds and was about to ask Harry what he was doing, when the mist of Hermione Patronus flowed back together, into an animal glowing just as brightly white as Harry's Patronus.

Their guesses about Hermione's Patronus being a powerful predator of some kind proved spot on, and now that they could see its final form it was almost too obvious in hindsight. The lioness touched her nose to the stag in a way that almost looked like a kiss. Then the two shining animals that were white enough to make snow look grey turned their attention on the Dementors.

The Dementors fled as the Patroni gave chase to them. RatFace and LeStrange took the opportunity to run as well, convinced that the light show would bring attention to their current location. Once the Dementors were far enough away from the Patroni, they did once again turn their attention to the two fleeing criminals. However, RatFace and LeStrange were able to get to the school gate first, and as soon as they passed it they disappeared into the air with loud cracks.

The stag and the lioness returned to stand in front of their summoners and looked at them. Harry felt a little weird doing it but he thanked the stag, then reached out to pet his Patronus. However, they both dissolved before he could touch it. Harry felt a wave of fatigue hit him like a speeding truck, and then both he and Hermione collapsed against each other unconscious.

A/N

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	45. Chapter 45 - the end of term

Sorry guys the raw file got uploaded first by mistake.

**Chapter 45 the end of term**

Harry awoke in the hospital wing. Warm sunlight was flooding through the open windows and there was a nice breeze keeping the room at a comfy temperature. At first he wondered how he had gotten there, but then the memories of the previous night returned. LeStrange, RatFace and Dementors, but also his and Hermione's Patroni.

Harry looked around for Hermione only to find he was alone. He would probably have started panicking, but next to his hospital bed were some obvious signs that Hermione had been spending some time there. The chair was pulled right up to the bed and one of the hospital wing's pillows was hanging off the back, the white of the pillow case easily showing a few cat hairs. When Harry added in the small stack of books there as well, it was obvious that Hermione had been spending some time here. With nothing else to do Harry picked up one of the books and started to read. It was a transfiguration textbook aimed at fourth year students; having finished his third year studies he was able to follow most of what the book was talking about, but some of it he just didn't understand yet.

After a while Madam Pomfrey came by while doing her rounds. "Ah Mr. Potter, I see you have woken up. How are you feeling?" Her tone conveyed that it was a medical question she wanted an honest answer, not idle conversation.

"Not bad, a little achy but nothing major. How bad was it when I was brought in last night?" Harry was curious.

"You were brought in on Thursday night/Friday morning. It's now Sunday afternoon, you have been unconscious for almost three days with physical exhaustion." She went on to list all the injuries Harry had when he came in, which totalled an alarming amount. His body was almost one big bruise with two cracked ribs, probably courtesy of the Whomping willow if Harry had to guess. There were bruises on the bones of his knuckles, a dislocated finger, a broken nose, scram* marks over his face, a twisted ankle, a few bumps to his head. To top it all off, he also had exposure to dark magic, exposure to Dementors and the aforementioned physical exhaustion. Harry hadn't even noticed getting some of the injuries; when had he twisted his ankle? He had no Idea.

"To be honest Mr. Potter, while this is probably the longest list of injuries you have ever come to me with, most of it was incredibly minor. Cuts, scrapes, and bruising are relatively simple to fix, the dark magic exposure was the most difficult part. Miss Granger told me about what Mr. Malfoy did, you were lucky that he lacks the skill required to truly use that spell." She practically spat out the last two words as though they left a bad taste in her mouth.

Two questions battled for dominance in Harry's head. "Where is Hermione? And what's happening with Malfoy?"

"Miss Granger is getting some lunch and refreshing herself, she should be back soon. As for Mr Malfoy, I will let Miss Granger tell you what's happening when she gets back." Harry was disappointed that she was refusing to tell him what was going on, but he had been in that situation enough times with her in the past to know it pointless to push. Madam Pomfrey excused herself after performing a few diagnostic charms on him, leaving Harry with nothing else to do but return to the book. He was just reading about the basics of vanishing and conjuring spells when Hermione pushed open the door to the hospital wing.

Her face lit up when she saw that he was awake, she half-dove into the bed next to him and pulled him into one of the hugs that Harry had gotten addicted to.

"You look happy." Harry commented as he wrapped his own arms around his witch.

She beamed at him. "So do you, and so does the whole castle. The Dementors are gone, and with them their effects. We didn't even realize how much it was affecting everyone until it was gone. So even after what happened I feel great, happy we survived."

Now that Hermione said it, Harry noticed that it almost felt like a heavy weight had been removed from his chest and it was easier to breath but in a completely non physical way. "The Dementors are gone?" he asked

"Yep!" Hermione smiled. "Minister Fudge and Director Bones came to the school that same night. Well, I suppose Minister Fudge came back. Anyway Director Bones asked me and Neville what happened, and when we told her about the Dementors attacking the three of us, Director Bones ordered Minister Fudge to send them back to Azkaban.

"Minister Fudge argued that she didn't have the authority to order him to do anything but she just said, 'You're right, Minister, I don't have the authority to order you to remove them. However, I do have the authority to arrest any witch or wizard in the country who I suspect to be party to a crime; just because I am the department head doesn't mean I don't still have my auror badge. And let me remind you that intentionally putting the lives of minors at risk is a crime, and there are currently about 1400 students in this castle, most of whom are minors. Just think what the Prophet would say if you were arrested on more than a thousand charges. Oh, and if you think I won't do it, let me remind you my niece is one of the students here.'

"So minister Fudge ordered them gone pretty quickly after that. You can see how Madam Bones was able to rise so high in the Ministry despite it being such an old boys' club." Harry could see that Hermione admired Director Bones. Switching topics, Hermione asked "So how long have you been awake?" She loosened up her grip but rested her head on his shoulder.

"Not long, maybe forty-five minutes?" Harry guessed.

"Darn, I just missed you waking up. I had to grab a shower, change my clothes and grab something to eat." Harry couldn't see her face from the angle she was at but he could hear the slightest bit of a whine in her voice.

"Madam Pomfrey told me where you were but she refused to say anything about anything else. What's happening with LeStrange, RatFace and Malfoy?"

"RatFace?" Hermione asked.

"The wizard that was helping LeStrange. We don't know his name and he disguised himself as Scabbers, so RatFace." Harry explained his choice of name.

"Well, LeStrange and Ratface got away. According to Madam Bones yesterday, she has evidence that they took an illegal portkey out of the country so they are gone. At least for now."

"What's a portkey?" Harry asked.

"I asked Madam Bones the same thing. It's an object that is spelled to teleport from one location to another, taking anyone touching it along as well."

Harry nodded his understanding. "And Malfoy?""

"In D.M.L.E custody awaiting his trial tomorrow." She went quiet. "He is going to get off."

"WHAT?! How the hell is that son of a bitch going to get away with it?!" Harry shouted at the top of his voice as anger flooded his brain.

"Harry, this is a hospital wing, don't shout." Hermione sternly told him.

"But!" He didn't care where he was right now. This deserved shouting!

"I know Harry. I agree with you. And so does Madam Bones, after what happened to Auror Moonshine she wants to throw the book at him. But Warlock Malfoy is already going around telling all the members of the Wizengamot that Draco was under the Imperius curse. A spell that lets you control someone completely. It's completely illegal, so of course it was popular with those who followed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Hermione explained.

"Apparently, according to Madam Bones, the warlocks on the Wizengamot are either in the pocket of the Malfoy family or they would much rather believe that someone our age was forced to do what he did to you, rather than believe that students would use the Cruciatus on each other." Her tone was that of disgust; despite staying calm, Harry could tell she wanted to rage as well. It was that more than anything that got Harry to relax, well relax physically at least. He still wanted to find Malfoy and strangle the smug little shit.

"Dumbledore has refused to let him back to the school for the rest of the year, but as he has already had his exams he will still be in our classes in September."

"So there's nothing we can do?"

"Sorry Harry, I offered to testify that he was doing it himself but Director Bones turned me down. Neither of us are experts in the Imperius curse, so the only things we can testify to is him attacking you and his use of the Cruciatus curse. He has admitted to doing that, he is just claiming it isn't his fault, so there is nothing for us to say."

"So they are just going to let him get away with it! Fucking typical." Harry wanted to rant some more but stopped himself; yes it was unfair, yes it was wrong, but Hermione had done nothing wrong, she was just the messenger. Instead Harry laid back on the bed, Hermione still curled up against him, and went back to sleep. For someone who had spent the last few days sleeping, he was tired.

-ϟϟϟ-

The next few days passed slowly as Madam Pomfrey kept Harry in for observation. What this meant in practice was Harry feeling well enough to leave but instead having nothing to do all day except sit in bed with Hermione and her collection of books. In fairness, with their exams over and the teachers more focused on the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams that were almost on top of them, Harry and Hermione would probably be doing the same thing somewhere else, probably out in the grounds enjoying the warm early summer sun maybe even with a picnic. What was really getting to him though was that he was stuck in this one room, not even able to go for a walk, just because madam Pomfrey was overly cautious.

There were a few visitors to break up the monotony and help stave off the cabin fever. Neville came to visit for about twenty minutes every day since he woke up. He had explained why his wand had worked for LeStrange better than it had ever worked for him after he had talked to Dumbledore about it. Apparently wands can change allegiance when you defeat another Wix. Dumbledore suspected that Neville's wand, which had belonged to his father before him, had switched its allegiance to LeStrange long before it had ever come into Neville's possession. it also explained why Neville always had so much trouble with magic. Using a wand that was not compatible with them would have crippled any Wix, using an incompatible wand since his first lessons would have destroyed anyone's confidence in their magic.

Daphne and Tracy had also stopped by on the pretence of Daphne needing a headache potion. Tracy had left a card after checking there were no other Slytherins in the room that would have given them grief over being friendly with Harry and Hermione. The card had a picture of a miniature stuffed lion with a bandage on its head and contained all the couple's well wishes.

The only other visitor Harry had had was "Uncle Moony". On the same day Harry woke up, Remus came to talk to Harry. He wanted to check that Harry was ok and to tell Harry that he had given Dumbledore his resignation. Moony's response when Harry protested was that he had been used as a weapon against students, and that it was only through luck that things weren't a lot worse.

Harry could understand that. It must have weighed heavily on the man to know what could have happened not only to students in general but specifically to Harry, the only child of one of his best friends. Not that he would've been happy about being used against Hermione or Neville either, but Harry thought that Moony found being used against the closest thing he had to a nephew extra disturbing.

After they were done talking about quitting his job, the topic moved on to what happened after Harry and the others had left the Shrieking Shack and left Professor Lupin behind. Harry and Hermione told him about their flight across the countryside, about duelling LeStrange and Malfoy, about how the three of them were restrained, and about how Harry was used as a training dummy so that Malfoy could learn the Cruciatus curse. They told him about their rescue by Auror Moonshine, and about RatFace and how he killed Auror Moonshine. Moony latched onto two details; first was Harry's patronus, the other was the details about RatFace.

"A stag? Truly?" Uncle Moony (for he was truly giving off "proud uncle" vibes here) grew a little teary.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, mine was definitely a stag."

"Are you okay professor? Hermione asked.

"I… no not really." He was becoming rather upset. "It's just…I suppose you have worked out why my nickname is Moony." The two of them nodded. Knowing that he was a werewolf, it was obvious in hindsight.

"I've known for months." Hermione admitted. "Ever since professor Snape set the werewolf essay." Harry wasn't surprised. He had known that Snape was up to something. That Hermione figured it out was to be expected.

"Did you ever wonder why the other nicknames though?" Moony asked. The two teens shook their heads. "Lycanthropy is a true curse. Not just in the magical sense, but it creates a monster once a month that will attack anyone that gets within reach. What most people don't realise is that it is a curse on the one infected just as much, and not just because the infected are shunned or that the transformation is painful.

"Werewolves have a drive while transformed, and if they are locked away from people then they turn the need to bite on themselves." He pulled up his sleeve and they could see hundreds of scars on his forearm. They overlapped so much that it was impossible to see that they were bite marks. "While I was a student here, there was no choice but to be locked away every full moon, where I would start to bite myself. Then the most amazing thing happened. My friends found out my secret. And instead of shunning me like I expected, they accepted me and then beyond accepted me.

"Harry, your father did all sorts of research into werewolves and eventually he stumbled across two bits of information that would help. Animals are immune to the effects of werewolves, and werewolves (like normal wolves) are pack animals. James was amazing at transfiguration, and he came up with a plan to help me. It took two years and a lot of work but James pulled it off. He and our other two friends became animagi." Hermione gasped, but Harry was absorbing every drop of information he could get about his father. "Here's the thing, Harry; James's animal form was a stag. That is why we called him Prongs."

There was silence for a few minutes while Harry absorbed that news. His Patronus was a stag. His dad could transform into a stag. Those two thoughts bonded back and forth until they merged into one thought. My Patronus is my dad. It was a silly idea, and on most levels he understood that, yet the thought that he had his father with him, even if it was just in a tiny way, was impossible to completely let go of.

Lupin had fixated on one other detail, and now he had Harry describe in detail every aspect of the wizard RatFace and the rat form he took. Once Harry said that it looked like he had disguised himself as his roommate Ron's pet rat Scabbers, Lupin demanded to know everything Harry could tell him about Scabbers. He wanted to know how long Ron had had the rat, what the rat looked like, and even at one point asking if it was missing a toe. The questions were so specific at some points that Harry started to have suspicions that something was going on. However when he asked, all Lupin would say was that it wasn't the sort of thing you talked about without evidence and that he would look into what was going on.

When Harry tried to press, Lupin had said that he needed something to keep his mind occupied, now that he was going to have so much free time on his hands. Harry glanced at Lupin's patched robes and doubted that he had the money to go without work to free up time to fill, but he didn't say anything. Once again, adults weren't telling him things. One part of him, the part that started to develop under the care of Dan and Emma seeing them actually do what adults in charge were supposed to do, understood that it was an adult's job to fix things. However, the part of him that had learned from bitter experience was preparing for not knowing something to come and bite him in the ass.

-ϟϟϟ-

Exclusive interview with Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived.

Well, readers, where to begin? First, I must say that this interview was done only a few hours before young Mr. Potter was drawn into the events involving the escaped convict Bellatrix LeStrange, which have been widely reported in the Daily Prophet over the last week. These events lead to the death of an auror and the presentation of an underage wizard (who cannot be named for legal reasons) to the Wizengamot after he was Imperiused by a companion of LeStrange to use the Unforgivable Cruciatus Curse (a spell known to produce intense, unbearable pain in its victims and is punishable with a life sentence in the wizarding prison Azkaban) on young Mr. Potter. As such, there will be no mention of those events in the interview.

The best place to start is with the news most young witches dread: Harry Potter is no longer single. When I met with Harry he was in the company of an enchanting young witch by the name of Hermione Granger.

It seems, dear readers, that like his father before him, young Mr. Potter has fallen for a Muggleborn. Given that Harry himself was raised in the Muggle world after the tragic loss of his parents, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Harry is able to empathize with the Muggleborn witches and wizards of our society, being just as out of the loop when it comes to wizarding culture as the newcomers.

I asked the two of them how they felt about the magical world and they went on to list a number of things they liked. For Mr. Potter it was Quidditch, some types of magic, and a fondness for magical sweets. His lovely girlfriend, however, loved the books and the freedom that magic gave her.

When I asked what they didn't like, they were of one mind: not liking the importance our culture places on blood status. According to Mr. Potter, it reminded him too much of the views of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. They also considered it unfortunate that witches and wizards are so disconnected from the Muggle world.

Don't misunderstand, both of them are in favour of the Statute of Secrecy. To quote Mr. Potter, "I know for a fact that there are Muggles out there who would hate us for what we are and wouldn't hesitate to hurt us if they could. But just because we need to keep ourselves separate from them doesn't mean that we need to be ignorant of their world or their knowledge. Muggles have been to the moon and back and have ways of communicating instantly around the world. Just imagine how much better we could be with magic if we took the time to learn." The idea that muggles had been to the moon or that they could communicate with the other side of the world so easily was a little surprising to me, and frankly I had trouble believing it until I spoke with a Muggleborn colleague of mine who corroborated everything Mr. Potter said about Muggles.

After getting the couple's views on the wizarding world I asked them how it was they met and got together. Like many, they met for the first time on the Hogwarts Express on their way to their first year at the prestigious school. Harry admits that he was "a bit of a berk" when he first met the young women and the two parted on neutral terms.

It wasn't until Halloween that the two of them became friends. Both Harry and Hermione for their own reasons decided not to attend the feast that is custom at the school for Halloween. Hermione had suffered a little bullying earlier in the day and just wanted to be alone for a while, and Harry was more concerned that it was the anniversary of the death of his parents James and Lily Potter. In his words, "it just feels wrong for me to be celebrating on that day…"

The article went on to talk about how the two of them became friends and then how they had upgraded their relationship after Hermione's mishap with a potion. Skeeter had played up them getting together as a sort of "love overcomes adversity" tale, which seemed much bigger than the two second years reading books and stealing a few kisses that Harry remembered, even if nothing written was wrong. Both Harry and Hermione came out looking good in the article, just like Miss Skeeter had promised they would.

"So what do you think?" asked Hermione.

"I would have liked little less focus on my 'tragic backstory' but that's the whole reason people want to read an article about us. I think we came out of it looking pretty good," Harry replied. "Not perfect, and some people will be put off by us advocating for Wix to understand muggles better, but most of them would also be against me being with a Muggleborn anyway so fuck em." Harry could see that the topic of bigoted pure bloods would bring the mood down so he switched the topic as he folded the copy of Witch Weekly closed and handed it to Hermione. "It was good of Rita to send you a copy of the magazine."

Hermione took the magazine and put it in her book bag before she turned back to Harry and her breakfast. "Actually it came from Bozo. He also sent the order form for the photos as well." She held up a stack of parchment with a number of watermarked photos and a range of prices. Harry looked at the prices, depending on the size of the photo you wanted it ranged from 10 sickles for a wallet size to 30 galleons for a full portage size print. "The prices aren't bad when you consider that it was a professional photographer and a makeover." Hermione said as she too looked at the prices.

"I guess they make most of the money from the magazine. The selling of the photos is just a way to bump up the profits on the side." Harry speculated.

Hermione pushed her mostly finished breakfast aside and focused on the order forms. "So Harry, which photos do you want?"

-ϟϟϟ-

The next day Harry and Hermione were late to breakfast. Lavender had seen Hermione's copy of Witch Weekly the night before just as Hermione was putting her books away before bed and had asked if she could read it. Hermione, not thinking about the fact that there was an article about her in there, had lent her the magazine.

This of course lead to Lavender and Pavarti both taking the copy of witch weekly to Lavender's bed to read. Hermione was just settling in to sleep when Parvati screamed. It wasn't a scream of fear or pain, it was one of Parvati's more annoying habits: a scream of excitement. Normally Hermione would just throw a ball of socks at the excitable girl for disturbing her while she was trying to get to sleep, and then roll over and ignore her.

This time though both Parvati and Lavender came running over to Hermione's bed wanting to know all about the article. Hermione thought it was ridiculous, both of the girls already knew everything that was in the article. They had been around Hermione for years and while they weren't B.F.F.s they were still friendly. The two of them already knew how Hermione had become friends with Harry and Ron, they knew about how she and Harry had gotten together. They even knew more than was in the article. They were there when Ron had sent her crying to the bathroom, they had hugged her when she dissolved into tears in the dorm after her friendship and Harry's friendship with Ron had fallen apart.

Yet because the story was now in Witch Weekly the two Gryffindor queens of gossip were interested in the story all over again. This had kept Hermione awake for hours longer than she intended, and led to her sleeping late the next day. As it was a Saturday it wasn't a problem, apart from keeping Harry waiting for her before going to breakfast. At least until Harry and Hermione walked into the Great Hall and were instantly swamped with hundreds of owls.

It took them over an hour to collect all the letters and have breakfast before they referred to a quiet corner of the library and began to read the letters. They were all from people who had read the article in Witch Weekly. Soon, the two realized that the letters could all be sorted into categories

It's good to see that Harry has found a nice girl

Derisive comments about Hermione's blood status/called Hermione an animal

People who thought that there was nothing to learn from muggles

People who were surprised that muggles could do anything that Wix couldn't

And girls who thought that they would be a better fit for Harry than Hermione

The two of them sorted the letters into categories, not really knowing what else to do with them. When they were done they could see that the pile that congratulated the two was by far the biggest so that was encouraging.

Harry noticed Hermione eyeing the small pile of mail that was from witches who thought they were a better fit for him. Some of them had been sweet, some upsetting, and one was so disturbing that Harry still felt slightly off thinking about it. The writer wanted for both Harry and Hermione to keep her as a pet/love slave.

Harry collected all the letters, keeping the ones Hermione was eyeing and the ones that were dismissive of Hermione because of her parents separate, and led Hermione back to the common room. With the warm summer weather finally being here, the fireplace was unlit. There was a stack of wood nearby in case it got cold but it would normally be untouched until they came back in September. Harry made sure Hermione was watching and threw the offensive letters in the fireplace before drawing his wand from it's holster. He looked at Hermione. "What do you think?"

The gesture was obvious and overly dramatic and Harry could see Hermione trying to hide a smirk. "I think you are not finished," she drew her wand. "Need a hand?"

"After three?"

Hermione nodded, pointed her wand and just said, "Three!"

Harry was a little surprised but he already had his wand in hand and the spell ready in his head and the two of them cast the Incendio charm at the same time, reducing the offensive letters to smoke and ash.

-ϟϟϟ-

The last week of the school year passed quietly Harry and Hermione were packed to return to London the next day. All that was left now was the leaving feast. It would be the first year since Harry had arrived at the school that Gryffindor hadn't won the house cup.

Harry and Hermione entered the Great Hall. It was decorated with the yellow and black colours of Hufflepuff. Harry had only found out much after the fact that Professor Sprout had given Cedric Diggory two hundred House points for saving Harry during the Quidditch match. It had given Hufflepuff enough of a lead that despite the other houses closing the gap the 'Puffs had still taken the cup. Given that the points were awarded for not letting Harry smash into the ground, Harry felt that the Hufflepuff win was well deserved. Diggory was enjoying the attention he was getting from his housemates as Hufflepuff celebrated winning the house cup for the first time in over seven years. While Diggory was adamant that it was a group effort, the other Hufflepuff's were giving him the credit as their House's highest point scorer for the year.

After everyone had had their fill of large amounts of some of the best food that Hogwarts had to offer, Harry and Hermione listened as Dumbledore stood and gave a speech, first congratulating Hufflepuff and Cedric for their win of the House Cup, then Gryffindor and Oliver Wood for their victory of the Quidditch Cup. Once the congratulations were out of the way the headmaster went on to saying his goodbyes to the students.

"And so we end another year of fun and learning! For most of you I say farewell, and I will see you again in September. However, to our seventh year students it is time for me to say goodbye. You have spent most of the last seven years calling this castle home. You have faced her challenges and learned her lessons well. Now it is time for you to leave and to take the skills you learned here and use them in the wider world.

"You will face many challenges and hardships in the years to come and I truly believe that each and every one of you has what it takes to see those challenges and overcome them. Whether you overcome them through courage, hard work, knowledge, cunning or by some other method, you are all Hogwarts students and that is something that you can take pride in. Tomorrow you will leave here for the last time as a student. You will enter the world that is out there waiting for you; now is your opportunity to seize the future. Goodnight, farewell, and goodbye."

-ϟϟϟ-

Dumbledore watched from the window in his office as the seventh year students were led down to the lake by their heads of house. From his angle the headmaster could see Hagrid waiting on the small dock with the boats ready to take the leaving students across the lake in the reverse of the ceremony the students had gone through on their first day at the school. He checked the glass cauldron next to him as it brewed the elixir he was preparing. He gave it a careful stir with a rowan wood stirring stick, three clockwise seven anticlockwise and thirteen clockwise. before he turned back to watch the boats as they began their journey across the calm waters of the lake.

Not many people nowadays realized that the ceremony was more than just a quaint tradition, but a simple ritual placed there by the founders around a thousand years ago. When students arrived in their first year, they would cross the lake and be identified as students to the school's wards and were placed under the school's protection. About three hundred years ago, the ministry had also done some spellwork and added the trace to underage students who crossed the lake. When they left across the lake at the end of the seventh year, the wards recognised that they were no longer students. There was another way to remove an individual from the wards if they left the school by a different method, but it was a lot more complex and only the Headmaster had the access to the wards needed to do so.

Dumbledore spotted Harry and Miss Granger amongst the students watching the seventh years sail away. He was a little disappointed with the situation. He had hoped that the relationship between Harry and Miss Granger would be like that of most teenagers, energetic and short lived, burning out quickly. However, it was looking like Miss Granger was going to be connected with Harry for some time. He would have to adjust his plans slightly. He would have to sacrifice miss Granger alongside Harry to bring about the best possible future.

The value of one more life, even one as brilliant as Miss Granger, was not comparable to the value of the lives that would be spared the horrific future that could come if he did nothing. It was hard to make such decisions, but that was the position he now occupied, and to do nothing would be the bigger crime. Dumbledore was sure of that much; it didn't mean he had to like it. He took a set of glass tongs and used them to reach inside the glass cauldron and remove the large red stone that had been sitting at the bottom before he placed it on a towel to dry and cool.

The first through sixth year students were now climbing into the carriages, ready to be taken down to the train station. Dumbledore watched the one containing Harry, Miss Granger and Mr. Longbottom as it passed though the castle gate. Sometimes he hated being the person who was burdened with so many secrets, having to act despite knowing that you are hurting people because you can see that if you don't it would only lead to more suffering.

He had caused more suffering this year than he intended, but compared to what was at stake the mathematics of war were still in his favour, even if taking Amelia Bones's memories had led to LeStrange's escape. It was foolish of her to put off the Azkaban shift change schedule till the last minute, silly girl. Yet he had done what he needed and Mr. Potter would be returned to his relatives. A depressed Harry that saw no reason to live would be much easier to point at Tom when he returned.

Harry had to die before Tom could be permanently dealt with. Dumbledore was sure of that.

He put the elixir into an over large wine glass. He hesitated for a few seconds before picking up the glass. Not only was the elixir still steaming hot but the process that followed was not a pleasant one. Permanently making yourself ten years younger over the span of a week was not a comfortable procedure.

He picked up the Philosopher's Stone and slipped it into a small wooden box before returning it to the safe that was hidden behind one of the many bookshelves. Then he returned to the glass of elixir, picked it up, held it out towards the train station and made a toast.

"For the Greater Good."

He quickly drank the entire dose before he lost his nerves. The next week was really not going to be fun.

A/N

The name RatFace is a nod to the fic 'Hermione's furry little problem' by Gandalfs_beard. In that fic there is a character who becomes a victim of Wormtail without knowing anything about him. Not even his name. She calls him RatFace until she learns who he is.

Hermione's furry little problem is a fic I recommend if you haven't read it. It has a lot of NSFW content but it's well written and it is one of the rare fic's out there that is complete.

Scram* - scratches caused by a person's or an animal's nails. Hotspur if this is a British word but I never heard American English speakers use it in this context so I added a note incase.

1400 students - according to Jk's early notes theatre are about 200 students a year at Hogwarts and that's the number I am useing.


	46. Book 2 Opening Moves Ch1 Home Again

**BOOK TWO**

**Opening Moves**

**Chapter 1 - home**

Hermione and Harry both drew their wands for the job Infront of them. It wasn't a hard job; both could have easily done it by hand. But levitating their luggage off the train would be the last bit of magic that they could do until September so neither of them wanted to waste the opportunity. Harry levitated Hedwig in her cage onto his trunk and then levitated his trunk out of the door. Hermione opted to carry Crookshanks in his carrier while directing her trunk to follow Harry.

The platform was busy with witches and wizards catching sight of their children for the first time in months. Hermione led Harry around the crowd to cross into the Muggle part of the station where her own parents waited. Just before the barrier the two underage Wix ended the spells on their luggage as they settled the trunks onto a trolley and returned their wands to their holsters. They would both really miss magic but the law was clear, as the two of them were underage they were not allowed to use magic outside of school unless there was an emergency. As Harry had had such an emergency last summer, he doubted that the D.M.L.E. would be so lenient again.

The two walked through the barrier that separated Platform 9¾ from the rest of Kings' Cross and were instantly shifted from a crowd of reunited families to a crowd of rushed commuters. The two pushed their way through the mass of overworked and underpaid people, Hedwig fussing the entire time because she wasn't a fan of her cage, which drew a few looks from people. Eventually Harry spotted Dan at the far end of the station, close to the exit and away from the crowd, and pointed him out to Hermione. Having seen her father Hermione was off, leaving Harry behind to deal with the trolley and make his way through the mass of people.

It took Harry a few minutes to follow Hermione. The trolley was harder to navigate around people than a lone teen was. When Harry finally got clear of the crowd, he could see Hermione with her arms wrapped around her parents. Harry had missed the two dentists as well, but he was nowhere near as close to them as Hermione was. Harry started pushing the trolley over to them, but his heart sank when he saw someone he had hoped he would never see again. His uncle Vernon was standing near the exit scanning the crowd looking for him.

Harry looked at the floor as he made his way towards the Grangers; if he was lucky, now that Harry was wearing clothes that fit instead of his cousins extra extra baggy cast offs, his uncle wouldn't spot him amongst the other people in the station. Of course, if you want not to be noticed, you probably shouldn't have distinctively messy hair, a large trolley with two large ornate trunks, and an owl in a cage. At least not while you are in a Muggle area; in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade it might have worked.

Harry's first indication that he had been spotted was the obvious one, Uncle Vernon's voice shouting, "Boy it's about time you turned up! I have better things to do than wait around for you! Get in the car, we are going!" It sounded like his temper was already lost for the day. Harry almost did what his uncle ordered on reflex but instead pretended he hadn't heard and continued to the Grangers. Madam Bones had said it plainly in her letter, unless he received an official letter from her on Ministry-headed parchment, then it was illegal for him to go with his uncle.

"Boy! Enough of your foolishness, let's go! I have places to be!" Vernon once again shouted over the background noise in the station.

Hermione looked up from the hug she was enjoying from her parents at the sound of shouting. Harry's uncle was the one shouting and he was shouting at Harry, and that pissed her off. Hermione had only seen Harry's uncle twice before today: almost exactly a year ago and then the year before that, when the man had picked up Harry at the end of the school year. Some might have considered it odd that Hermione could remember so well a man she had only seen a handful of times, but as it was Harry's uncle she had paid attention. It also helped that his overly rotund figure was somewhat distinctive, and the family resemblance to the photos of his sister that she had seen in the paper also helped.

Hermione watched as Harry deliberately ignored his uncle, watching his feet and not looking around for the source of the shouting like everyone else. His uncle could see it too, and started across the station towards Harry. Hermione started to rush to Harry, her parents following behind. They could see what was happening, it was their duty as Harry's current guardians, but more than that it was a thirteen year old in trouble. That Harry was close enough to their daughter to almost be considered family just made it more urgent.

Vernon reached Harry first and grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the exit. Hermione watched as Harry just sort of closed down and accepted it and started to shuffle along next to his uncle. Harry who had fought trolls, acromantulas, a basilisk, two dark Wix, and a horde of Dementors and won, wasn't fighting back at all. Hermione didn't understand it, but she could see all she needed to see: for whatever reason Harry couldn't fight back against this man so she would do it for him. She grabbed Harry's other arm and pulled him away from his uncle, shouting "Get away from him!"

Vernon turned to look at her, a look of anger on his face. He was about to push her away from Harry and continue manhandling Harry when her parents slipped between them and the man that had left all those scar's over Harry's torso. Hermione knew from where the scars, always in two parallel lines, came.

"Mr Dursley, what an unexpected surprise. What are you doing here today." Despite the friendly words, her dad's tone was ice cold. And no one could have mistaken it for friendly

"You! Haven't you caused enough trouble for me? I know you tipped off that cop. I am here to collect the boy, now move out of the way." He was using his size to try and intimate them. Hermione felt a little afraid, but compared to LeStrange Vernon Dursley was just not that intimidating. Her parents ignored the posturing as well. Harry was the only one who looked nervous.

"_Harry," _Emma put emphasis on his name, as Harry wasn't just a 'boy', "was placed in our custody to prevent any future incidents like the one that happened last year. Leave now or I will call the police and tell them just how like your sister you are."

"I had a letter from one of those people saying that I was to come and collect him today," Vernon said through gritted teeth.

"Unless you have a repeal of the custody order for us signed by the head of the D.M.L.E., then that letter isn't worth the paper it's written on," Dan replied. Hermione was angry now; someone _(probably the headmaster) _was trying to send Harry back where he would get hurt.

"Those are your laws, not mine. I only answer to the real police. Your people have no authority in my life! And according to the government, my wife and I are the boy's guardians."

"Actually Mr. Dursley, you will find if you were to look it up that you are not Harry's legal guardian any more," interrupted a young woman dressed in dark gray trouser suit and a familiar face. "The Ministry has some limited contact with the government and social services; when it comes to a child like Mr. Potter, then we do have the full authority under treaty to act and move him to a safe location."

"And who the hell are you!" Vernon eyed the interloper, obviously searching her for any sign she was a witch.

The young woman grinned as she replied, "I am Auror Tonks. An auror is our equivalent of a detective, although it's not a direct comparison. Basically, it's my job to investigate crimes and protect the people like Harry and Hermione from threats. While I may not be able to arrest you myself, I can make life very difficult for you. Maybe even a phone call to the police from inside your house." Tonks was staring at Vernon right in the eyes.

Hermione picked up on what Tonks was saying immediately and by the gasps from Vernon, Harry and her parents, they all picked up on it as well. Tonks had been the one who got the police to Marge Dursley's house.

"You evil freak, you have no right to interfere with the lives of good and honest people just trying to make a living!" Vernon Dursley was fuming. "Why can't you people just stay the hell out of my life?"

"Good and honest? I only brought the cops there; she was the one with the dogfighting business and child slaves. The funny thing is, if you had acted like a proper guardian and prevented your sister from harming an innocent child in your care, I never would have found out what your sister was doing." Tonks sounded like she was really enjoying herself now as she laid Vernon's sins back on his own shoulders. "And yet I'm going to give you exactly what you asked for. Turn around and leave. Just go, and you won't have to deal with anyone else from our world again. Without Harry in your life, none of us have any reason to contact you at all. Just leave and it's over."

Hermione watched as Dursley worked through what Tonks was saying. "So the freak goes with you lot and it's done? All of it? No more vanishing glass, no more being followed across the country, and no more poxy owls? It's a wash, my family and I get to go back to living normal lives?" He seemed to like the idea.

"Just so. You can forget all about us." Tonks agreed.

"Then take him. He's yours. Goodbye freak!" And he turns and hurried out of the station as though he thought if he stayed around any longer they might change their minds. Tonks and the Grangers watched as he left. _Good riddance, how disgusting of a man he was to care so little about his nephew_. Harry was too busy breathing deeply trying to keep calm to watch his uncle leave.

Hermione put her arm around him, which calmed him down a little. Then Emma surprised him by pulling Harry and by extension Hermione into a hug. Harry hadn't ever been hugged by an adult before, not that he could remember. He had hugged Hagrid the one time at the start of the school year, but that had been him doing the hugging and not being the one getting hugged.

Harry had expected to get that noted panicky feeling in his stomach like he got when most people touched him, but he was surprised to feel just warm and safe. It was similar and yet completely different to when Hermione hugged him, her hugs had something more about them. Harry threw his arms around the mother and daughter Grangers and pulled them against him for a few moments until he finished composing himself.

They separated from the hug and Harry noticed both Dan and Tonks were watching him. Harry blushed hard and said, "Uh...hi?"

Dan laughed good-naturedly before saying, "Hello Harry, it's good to see you again."

Harry nodded, not knowing what else to say he replied with, "It's good to be back, and it's great to see you too."

Hermione giggled at them. "Ok you two stop being so awkward and formal." Before she turned to Tonks. "So it's Auror Tonks now? Not Trainee Auror Tonks?"

Tonks beamed at Hermione. "Caught that did you? Yep, as of three days ago I'm now Rookie Auror Tonks, freshly graduated from Brighton Academy's Auror course." Harry and Hermione beamed. They both thought Tonks seemed cool last time they met and it was good that her career was progressing.

"So what are you doing here today? Work, or do you have a family member coming home from Hogwarts?" Hermione asked to keep the conversation going.

Tonks grinned. "Watching to make sure all you little kiddies get off the train and to your proper families today is my first assignment. Boss lady Bones put me on this one specially because I already know about Harry's relatives, and she thought that something like that might happen." She pointed at the door Vernon had just left though.

Harry joined the conversation; he had been giving Auror Tonks a calculating look while she spoke. "You told him you'd make a phone call from inside the house. That's what happened to Aunt Marge. Did you have something to do with that?" Hermione was sure Harry didn't mean it to sound as harsh as it did, he just needed to know what happened with his relatives.

Luckily Tonks seemed to understand. "Well considering how she as well as your aunt and uncle treated you, and that your aunt and uncle's motivation was knowing about your heritage, we had to check that she wasn't a breach to the Statute of Secrecy. Director Bones sent me to investigate her and I found what she was doing. I wanted to arrest her myself for what she had done to you before I went there." A dark look crossed her face. "After I went there I wanted to throw her in the deepest darkest cell in Azkaban and vanish the key. But she is a Muggle and so were her victims, and I wasn't a full Auror yet. I was just on a fact-finding mission, so I broke in that same night and called the cops." She grinned. "And once they were there I screamed for help and then apparated out. The cops investigated and the rest ended up as *"chip wrapper."

Hermione watched Harry as a lot of complex emotions passed over his face. She understood, Tonks had removed a number of obstacles from Harry's life. It may have been Tonks job to investigate but she had obviously wanted to help Harry. And Harry was always more comfortable doing the saving than being the one saved.

Harry eventually decided what he wanted to say. "Thank you. After what happened last summer I don't know what would have happened if I had had to face them this summer…thank you."

"Hey kid, it's no problem. I became an Auror to help people who need it, and that's what I did." Tonks looked like she was steeling herself for a moment before she continued. "Besides my great aunt Dorea, whom I was somewhat named after..." She then mumbled under her breath to herself, but thanks to the upgrade to her hair band Hermione could hear it clear as day, "even if my fool of a mother choose the bloody name Nymphadora." She continued at a regular volume, "Was your grandmother Dorea potter. You didn't make the connection last time we met and I told you how both you and I were related to LeStrange, and you weren't in a good place for me to bring it up at the time. You had the best family Harry, but you also have the worst. The war wasn't kind to the good parts of our family, but now I - we - have found you again and we don't intend to lose you.

"You are with good people now." She nodded at Hermione and her parents. "But if you ever need help don't hesitate to contact me, OK?" Tonks watched Harry to see how he would react to her little speech. It was obvious to Hermione that Tonks must have practised that little bit a few times, and easy to see that she was nervous. And Hermione could understand why, considering how Harry had reacted last time she had been around when family was brought up to Harry.

Harry was stunned, he obviously didn't know what to say. Hermione wanted to help him but it was his decision to make. She knew that Harry was desperate for any form of a family after the way his mother's relatives had treated him. Yet, after discovering that he was related to Malfoy and LeStrange, she wouldn't be surprised if Harry just didn't have any trust left for the bonds of blood.

"I.. uh…" Harry tried to say something but was lost as to what to say. Hermione watched as a blush started to creep up his cheeks. Strangely, it was Hedwig who settled everything. Hermione couldn't figure out how, but somehow she escaped her cage and took flight. After a quick circuit around the area, she landed on Auror Tonks' shoulder while watching Harry and hooting gently.

Hermione watched as shocked looks took over everyone's faces and presumed that hers didn't look much different. That was, until a huge grin spread over Harry's face. "Well, how could I ignore an endorsement like that? I'll definitely stay in touch." Tonks beamed at Harry and Hedwig flew back to Harry and landed on his shoulder. Hermione laughed at Harry's face as the snowy owl lightly nibbled his ear.

After that, Tonks had to leave and go back to checking on all the students and making sure they all had someone there to collect them. So after a quick goodbye, her mum and dad lead both her and Harry to the car. While it was true that they didn't live that far from the station, it was still a few miles and walking that far with their trunks wouldn't be pleasant. Unfortunately, there was no car park at Kings' Cross Station, so it was still a bit of a walk just to the car.

On the way her dad asked, "So what should we get for dinner tonight? First night back so it's a welcome home dinner and all the rules about healthy eating are off tonight."

Hermione started to think about it. What did she fancy to eat? Some of the more British unhealthy foods such as fish'n'chips were available at Hogwarts, so it was almost a waste getting something like that. The immediate options of pizza, curry, or Chinese food jumped into her mind, but then she thought about some fried chicken and she knew just where to go.

"Why don't we get food from Sam's?" She asked everyone.

"What's that?" asked Harry, curious.

"It's a Turkish kebab house that also does burgers, pizzas and really good fried chicken." Hermione answered.

"Sounds perfect, if it's ok with everyone," Harry replied.

"Sounds great," responded Emma. "They have great chicken shish and I haven't had one for ages."

The four of them piled into the car, and Dan turned the car in the opposite direction from home and headed towards the takeaway she had suggested.

With the question of food taken care of, Hermione's mum turned around in her seat and looked at Harry and Hermione seated in the back.

"Are you ok Harry? It can't have been easy for you uncle to turn up like that."

Hermione took Harry's hand in her own, doing what she could to reassure him. She watched as Harry withdrew into himself slightly before he steadied himself and started talking.

"I… I don't really understand what happened. I know I'm not allowed to go back there but when he grabbed me I was just going to follow him. I have dealt with much bigger and stronger things than my uncle while at school but I was too afraid to stand up to him." Hermione stroked his hand to comfort him, but with both Crookshanks and Hedwig between the two of them, she couldn't give him one of her custom hugs.

"That's normal Harry. You have been afraid of him for a long time, much longer than you have known about magic. You learned that he was a danger to you long before you got strong enough to fight back, and reacting like that has become a habit," Emma said gently. "It's not easy to change a habit we used to need to keep us safe, but you can do it, Harry. And you probably won't see him again for a long time anyway."

"Honestly I hope I never have to see him, my aunt or my cousin ever again." Harry replied

_**-ϟϟϟ-**_

When they pulled the car up in front of the house Hermione jumped out, excited to be home. She pulled both Crookshanks and Hedwig out of the car and handed them to her mum, then rushed around to the boot of the car to get their trunks. She passed Harry's trunk to her father and picked up her own.

Harry watched Hermione with a slightly bemused expression on his face. Maybe it was because the gap between summer and Christmas was shorter than the one between Christmas and summer, but Hermione was nowhere near this hyped up when they had returned for Christmas break.

It was only when Hermione went towards the door carrying her trunk that Harry started to get the suspicion that there was something off.

"Can you open the door for us, please, Harry?" Hermione asked, unable to hide the merriness in her voice.

"We seem to have our hands full," added Emma, holding up Crooks and Hedwig.

Harry realized that it was staged, probably Hermione's idea to get him to use the key she had given him months ago. He fished out the key that was tucked into the small pocket of his wand holster (where he also kept his trunk keys) and used it to open the door.

"Welcome home Harry," Dan said as he stood behind Harry. "Now if you'll go in because you are blocking the way, we can get to dinner!"

Harry moved and helped put the trunks in the house, he and Hermione would take them upstairs after dinner. Emma let Hedwig and Crookshanks out of their carriers. Crooks gave Emma an affectionate rub then darted off up the stairs, presumably needing his litter tray. Hedwig's behaviour was similar, only she swooped out of the still-open front door and turned north towards The Heath, probably looking for a juicy mouse.

At dinner Harry and Hermione discussed their time at Hogwarts since Christmas. It got a little strained when they spoke of what happened with LeStrange, but the two older Grangers both said that getting Madam Bones involved and her placing an Auror at the school was a big improvement over the year before, where Hermione had gotten petrified by a monster that was hiding in the school for about six months without any progress made into catching it before Hermione was targeted.

On the other side, Dan and Emma heaped praise on Harry when Hermione told them about how much more effort he had put into his school work this year. Harry, who had never had such praise from anyone before outside of Quidditch, blushed so hard he could have recooked the fried chicken he was eating a second time. He had gone with Hermione's recommendation and gotten the fried chicken, potato wedges and coleslaw from Sam's and it was a good choice. The Grangers also praised Hermione as she told them she still ranked highest in the year overall, even if she wasn't the top student in every subject.

Once Harry and Hermione were finished telling their tale of school, they got to listen to Dan and Emma as they talked about what had happened in their lives. Mostly it was run of the mill stuff that was only interesting because the two teens cared about the two dentists. If Harry had to listen to anyone but Dan as he complained about losing his no-claims bonus for his car insurance, Harry would have had a hard time not yawning. However, he found the conversation interesting enough, if lacking in substance.

One topic that captured Harry's attention was Dan telling him about taking the Dursleys to dinner. At first, Harry had felt a little betrayed that the Grangers would go to dinner with his aunt and uncle. But as the story went on and Dan explained how Vernon had been trying to sell them dental drills, and how Dan had been stringing him along as much as he could, Harry felt a great of vindictive satisfaction. Dan told him how Vernon and Petunia had been tricked into insulting themselves, stuck with the bill, and arrested for drunk driving and assaulting a police officer.

Once that story was told Emma spoke up and said, "And we have a surprise for the two of you. We are all going to France. Tomorrow!" A big smile graced her face.

Hermione screamed in joy. "Oh my god really? We are going to see uncle, Steven?" Emma nodded at her daughter's question. " Yes! Yes! Yes! It's been ages since I got to see uncle Steven and his family." Hermione's face quickly turns a bit panicky. "But we haven't done any shopping. We'll need new clothes and I know I need a new bathing suit! And what about my cat problem? And what about Harry's passport? We never got Harry's documents from his uncle did we? So how can he leave the country? And who will look after Crookshanks?..."

Hermione was running on, so Harry did the only thing he could think of to get her to calm down. He stood up and pulled her into a hug and kissed her. The kiss wasn't one of the long make-out sessions from the Room of Requirement, but it wasn't a chaste peck on the cheek either. "Mione. If you don't give your mum a chance to talk, she can't answer any of your questions."

Harry turned from Hermione to face her parents then the realisation of what he had done hit him full in the face. He had kissed Hermione right in front of her parents. They had given each other a few pecks while her parents were in the room but that was it. A part of him was panicking that they would be angry at him, even though he knew that they were aware that the two of them kissed on a regular basis.

The reaction Harry didn't expect was the one they got: a pleased smile from Emma, while Dan was examining one of the pictures on the wall as though it was the first time he had seen it.

"Thank you Harry" Emma said before continuing. "Your father and I have gotten you each a few things, but we are mostly going to buy what we need in Paris. We are meeting Sarah and Steven in Paris and we are going to spend a couple of days shopping before we continue with the holiday. Your father and I will travel to Paris first on our own, while you and Harry will travel via magical means. That way you don't have to worry about your ears and tail being revealed. The two of you will be travelling on a magical world passport issued by the Ministry of Magic, so that covers his paperwork and your 'fuzzy problem'. Finally, Crooks and Hedwig have a reservation at a magical animal hotel that has a reputation for spoiling its guests." Emma smiled as she explained. "A witch should be by tomorrow morning to pick them up."

"How long are we going for? Will Ali be joining us in Paris? What are we doing after that?"

The conversation continued on from there, with Hermione asking about what they planned to do and who they planned to visit. Harry didn't know who Sarah and Ali were, but Hermione had mentioned that her family had a friend called Steven who moved to France and stayed there after he met a woman. Harry presumed this was Sarah, he had no clue who Ali was but Hermione definitely seemed excited to see him/her? Harry didn't know how he felt about someone he didn't know looking after Hedwig but he was also looking forward to seeing another country. Until his uncle started to drag Harry around half the country trying to shake off the letters from Hogwarts, Harry had nearly never got to visit outside of Little Whinging. The idea of seeing somewhere so different was exciting.

_**-ϟϟϟ-**_

Hermione had changed into her sleeping outfit, a camisole and underwear to combat the sudden change in heat from going south to London from Scotland. She would have worn a nightie or something similar but her tail would just push it up embarrassingly. She was just setting up an electric fan when there was a knock at her door. She turned to open it herself but the door was already opening to reveal her mum standing in the doorway holding two bowls of ice cream.

Hermione smiled as her mum came into her room for their little ritual of a welcome-home mother-daughter chat. The two Granger women sat on Hermione's bed cross-legged, each holding a bowl with an unhealthy amount of chocolate caramel swirl ice cream.

"So how was your year? Last year you had a tale of your new boyfriend and how he was a good kisser. I refuse to believe that there have been no developments since then." Her mum asked with her regular gossipy tone that she used for these discussions. Hermione knew it was to keep the conversation comfortable while her mum probed for information, but Hermione never had trouble talking to her mum about this stuff. She couldn't talk to her dad about it, but her mum always gave great advance.

She grinned. "And what do you think Harry and I have done?" Hermione took a bite of her ice cream and moaned as it melted across her tongue.

"Nope. That's not how this works, now spill or I'll take my ice cream back," her mum joked, causing Hermione to hug her bowl to her chest just as jokingly. "We...Harry and I have done some things, but to answer your real question, we haven't had sex. Not yet."

"Not yet?" Her mother's tone took on a conspiratorial edge.

"I have stopped using the suppression potion. At least for now," Hermione admitted.

"Why?" The curiosity in her voice didn't quite mask her motherly concern.

"I'm building a resistance to it. I need to keep it for when I really need to not get distracted." Hermione explained to her mum. "I don't want to risk being too horny to concentrate in the middle of my O.W.L.s or my N.E.W.T. exams, so I talked to Madam Pomfrey about how to get the best results. I just finished my last month on that potion so next month…" Hermione trailed off, she didn't need to say it. Part of her was really looking forward to the experience, even if she was nervous.

"And what about the contraception part of the potion?" Hermione could again hear the concern in her mother's voice. Of course her mother would be worried about that, what mother wouldn't be?

"That still works fine. It's formulated to be taken over a long period of time and keep working. The suppression potion is a lot less in demand and just hasn't been researched on as much." That was a problem with the wizarding world: they relied on potion masters to improve potions but the potion masters themselves often chose to work on potions that personally interested them. Of course there was more interest in developing a potion to increase the amount of sex that was available to them than there was to reduce it. It was probably why there were so many types of love potion out there. Hermione suppressed a shudder at that thought. "I have a supply of regular contraceptive droughts that will keep me covered for the summer. Madam Pomfrey was very helpful with that." Hermione could see her mum relax a little.

"Good. As much as I understand that with the changes you went through that you would probably start that part of your life early, I'm proud of the fact that you have waited as long as you have. I'm not ready to be a granny yet."

"Trust me, the last thing I want right now is to get pregnant. I want to be a mum one day, but I have so much I want to do first. Especially as Madam Pomfrey told me recently that it's illegal for a witch to get an abortion. I will be taking all the care possible not to get pregnant." Hermione watched as her mum got angry, as she knew she would at hearing that abortions were illegal for witches. Hermione, her mum and her grandmother were all firmly set on a woman's right to choose.

Before her mum could start insulting the wizarding world and destroy the friendly mood Hermione explained. "It's not about controlling women. The wizarding legal system is different, most law is House law. And the head of (for example) the House of Potter would make their own laws for the people of their house. The Wizengamot is a lot more limited, the only reason they could make this law is because, technically witches and wizards are an endangered species. I don't like it, but I can at least say it's a better reason than just because a religion said so."

Her mum changed the subject before either of them could get worked up. "So, have you talked to Harry about all this yet?" The question was one Hermione was expecting but it was still enough to put her on edge because she knew she needed to talk with Harry but she hadn't. She shook her head and stared at her bowl of ice cream, too embarrassed to look her mother in the eye. "Why not? Are you afraid of what he will say?" Her mum prodded. Hermione shook her head again. Harry had been supportive ever since her change, she didn't think that it would ever change. "Then why?" Her mother's tone said she wanted answers.

"It's awkward. I haven't told Harry about my issue for so long. And I found something about myself this year that surprised me, it just makes talking to Harry harder. I want to tell him, but I don't want him to misunderstand me, and it's just an awkward conversation anyway. I don't know how to approach it," Hermione confessed, the words barely above a whisper.

Her mother was silent for almost a minute before she spoke. "What did you find out about yourself?" The question was gentle and caring.

Hermione hesitatingly bit her lip before she blurted out. "I like girls."

Silence hung in the air for an agonizing minute. Hermione could see the tension in her mother's shoulders. Hermione started to panic a little, her mother had always been fully supportive of people no matter who they liked. but Hermione thought of Daphne's mother. Maybe her mum would be fine with it being anyone but her daughter.

"What about Harry, you seem to be into him and he's a guy?" Her mum asked cautiously.

"I still like guys as well." She could see the tension flow out of her mother's shoulders. "I still love Harry, and I still want to be with him. I just found that I also like girls."

Her mum relaxed. "That's a relief."

"I didn't think you had a problem with people not being straight!" Hermione half-accused, half-pleaded.

Her mum looked shocked for a second, then a thoughtful look passed over her face and a flash of understanding. Her mum put down her bowl of ice cream and crawled over Hermione's bed and pulled her into a hug.

"My sweet daughter, I love you and I always will. No matter who you choose to love. I was afraid of how a break-up with Harry would affect you, especially as he lives here now. My worry had nothing to do with you liking girls. I was worried I might have to help you through a bad break-up."

Hermione relaxed into her mother's arms as she explained, but the situation did remind her of something she was worried about. "What do I do if I tell Harry and he thinks I want to break up? Or that he needs to break up with me to help me? I wanted to tell him but I was terrified he would misunderstand."

"You just need to talk to him and explain everything, honey. He is smart enough to understand. Though maybe tell him that you are bisexual, instead of saying you like girls. If he needs an explanation, say that you like guys, but you also like girls. Mention liking guys first and that should prevent a mistake." Hermione felt a little dumb after her mother said that. The solution seemed so obvious after her mother said it, how could she not have thought of it herself weeks ago? "Now do you need help with how to talk to Harry about sex, or are you ok? If you're going to cross that bridge soon, you'll need to talk to him first."

"I think I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and talk to him. It's going to be embarrassing but there is no avoiding that," Hermione admitted.

"It will be embarrassing. But don't forget, it will be just as embarrassing for Harry. Remember, don't pressure him into anything he isn't ready for. A lot of people think that guys are always ready, but it's not true. It would be wrong if a boy pushed you when you weren't ready, but it's just as bad if you pressure a boy."

**A/N**

*Chip wrapper- this is based off a British phrase, "today's news is tomorrow's chip wrapper" this phrase is from when 'fish and chips' shops used to wrap the food in old newspapers. Due to food safety being better now this is no longer a thing. Chip shops mostly use large sheets of food-grade paper now. However the phrase remains. It basically means that just because everyone is talking about something today they won't be talking about it forever.

I also want to note that the law I added to the wizarding world is my interpretation of how the wizard's would govern, not what I personally believe. I don't want this to be a soapbox where I preach my politics. But I don't want my inbox blowing up with people assuming things about me and telling me how I'm wrong. So for the record, I'm pro-choice.


	47. OM-ch 02

**Chapter 2**

Harry and Hermione stepped out of the front door, locking it up behind them. Dan and Emma had left earlier that morning, getting into a taxi that would take them to the airport where they were going to catch the plane to France. Initially, Hermione thought her parents would be taking a train through the new channel tunnel. However, while the tunnel was completed, they weren't going to be sending commercial trains through until November. Maybe next year they could all take the train to Paris; there were probably fewer security checks on a train than on an air flight.

Hermione checked the instructions they had again, much to Harry's amusement. Dan and Emma had apparently spoken to Director Bones, who had been more than happy to help them get in touch with one of the Ministry's less prestigious departments, the Department of Muggle Liaison. They were able to help the older Grangers arrange transportation and documentation for Harry and Hermione to visit France.

The first thing they had to do was get to the Ministry of Magic, but that was a rather easy thing according to the information packet that the Muggle Liaison officer had put together for them. They would be travelling by something called the Knight Bus, which could take them anywhere in the mainland United Kingdom that they wanted to go. All they needed to do was wave a wand hand while standing next to a road.

Harry did just that, and less than twenty seconds later, a huge purple triple-decker bus pulled up right in front of them. A man dressed as an old-style conductor stepped off the bus. "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transportation for the witch or wizard in need. We'll take you anywhere you want as long as we don't need to drive over water."

"Uh, hi, we need to get to the Ministry of Magic visitors' entrance." Hermione took charge of talking to the conductor, who looked only about nineteen.

"That would be one Galleon each." The conductor told them. Harry pulled the two gold coins from his pocket. The instructions they had included the price, so Harry had kept two coins separate in order to pay quickly. As he handed the gold over, he watched as the conductor's eyes flicked to Harry's forehead, then to Hermione and back to his forehead.

"Well knock me down with a feather, it's Harry Potter and Her-my-own Granger! I seen you both in the papers this last week." Harry hid a wince. Not only was the conductor the type of wizard who seemed obsessed with the media, but he had butchered Hermione's name. "Hey Ernie, it's Harry Potter and his girlfriend, you know the one who was in that article all the witches were talking about the other week!" He shouted to the driver.

Harry thought that the conductor would keep them standing here all day, so he jumped in before he could start talking again. "Um, we do need to get to the Ministry. Maybe it would be better if we continued once we are on our way. Plus, I don't want to keep your other passenger's waiting."

The conductor jumped as he remembered that he was working at the moment and showed them onto the bus. Harry looked around with some trepidation. He had expected wizards not to have regular bus seats; his years in the wizarding world had shown him that wizards often had strange ideas when it came to adapting Muggle things. What he hadn't expected was a bunch of armchairs and loveseats just scattered throughout the space. Yes, the seats looked comfortable, but they also looked like they would bounce around the bus whenever the bus moved. Hermione pulled Harry into one of the empty loveseats. Almost as soon as they were seated, the bus lurched forward with a bang. The love seat that the two teens occupied slid towards the back of the bus, crashing into the other furniture.

Hermione grabbed Harry and buried her face in his chest. Harry recalled from last summer when they visited Gringotts that she didn't like roller coasters and the like. He could only imagine how much worse this was for her. He wrapped an arm around her and held her close. Hopefully, this trip wouldn't be too long. Harry looked out the window expecting to see the grey of London's streets only to see Hogsmeade out the window. Harry may have only been there once, but the magical village was hard to forget.

Seeing Harry's curious look, the conductor said. "This is where we was before ya flagged us down. We need ta drop off Madam Solbloom. Poor old thing can't focus enough to apparate any more." They soon pulled up next to one of the homes on the outskirts of the village on the far side from the school, and a little old witch carrying a few bags of shopping came down the stairs to the upper decks. The conductor was instantly at her side, helping her safely down the steps and off the bus. Once she was off, the bus lurched again, and this time they were travelling through a Muggle city again. However, as Harry could see the sea in the distance, it was definitely not London.

The conductor, now having time, continued talking to Harry and Hermione. Well, mostly to Harry as Hermione was doing her best to keep down her breakfast. He introduced himself as Stan Shunpike, and he was a gossip. He not only questioned them about the article that had appeared in both _Witch Weekly_ and _Teen Witch Weekly_, but he also went on about the fact that the Ministry was not looking too good over the escape of LeStrange. She had left the UK, and Fudge couldn't send anyone to look for her in other countries.

He also went on about how LeStrange's companion had put the _Imperius_ Curse on Malfoy and made him do such terrible things. That had been Draco and his father's defence at his trial for repeatedly using an Unforgivable Curse on Harry. That it was a complete crock of shit hadn't stopped the Wizengamot from clearing the git. Harry did tell Stan that he didn't believe that Malfoy was under the _Imperius_ Curse. As Stan seemed to be a bit of a gossip, Harry hoped that maybe a few members of the public would doubt it as well, after Stan told them about what "'arry Potter said".

After another four people got off the bus and two more got on, it was Harry and Hermione's stop. The bus pulled up next to an alley someplace in London that Harry didn't recognise. He and Hermione gladly got off the bus; Harry had fared better than Hermione, but even he started to feel queasy after the first two stops. The alleyway was completely dull. Harry wouldn't have looked at it twice if he was walking past. The only thing of note in the alley was an old-style red telephone box with a large "Out of Order" sign on it. According to the instructions that they had, the phone box was the entrance to the ministry.

Hermione leaned on Harry as they went and got in the box. Typically, Hermione would have charged ahead, wanting to understand the magic used to conceal one of the most important places in magical Britain. However, she was busy trying to put her stomach back in its proper location after the trip in the Knight Bus. The two of them got into the booth, and Harry picked up the phone and dialled 62442 as the instructions told him.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, please state your name and the reason for your visit today." A woman's voice came from all around them.

"Harry Potter and Hermione Granger here for an appointment with…" Harry rechecked the instructions. "The Department of Magical Transportation - Portkey Office," Harry spoke into the receiver. He doubted it mattered, but the habit of a lifetime was difficult to break. There was a sound of something falling into the coin return slot, and the phone booth started to sink into the floor.

The voice returned. "All visitors to the Ministry are required to display their visit badge on the front of their robes at all times while inside the Ministry. You are required to present your wands for registration to the welcome wizard. Have a nice day." Harry reached into the coin return slot and pulled out two golden badges. The first badge stated _HARRY POTTER - Portkey Office appointment_. The only difference with the other was that it had Hermione's name. Hermione reached into the bag she was carrying and pulled out two sets of light casual open style robes. Harry recognised one of them as belonging to himself, and he gave Hermione a questioning look.

"You've seen what wizards are like, they are completely opposed to change. I don't want to deal with that and bureaucracy at the same time." She handed Harry his robe, and he pulled it on over his t-shirt and jeans. He knew what Hermione was avoiding saying. Muggleborn were very under-represented at the Ministry, and family names counted for a lot when the Ministry was hiring. Such people were more likely to have a problem with her parents, but looking like she was more comfortable in robes than Muggle clothing would stop people jumping to conclusions that (while accurate) could lead them to be disruptive.

Harry straightened out his robes before pinning the badge to the front. He and Hermione bumped into each other a few times as they sorted themselves out in the right space. The booth reached the bottom, and the door opened, Hermione stepping out first and Harry following. The atrium was huge. The great hall at Hogwarts that comfortably sat 1400-ish students could have fit inside four maybe even five times. The room was a large oval; there were magical fireplaces lining the walls, and every few minutes, someone would come out of one of the left-hand fireplaces in a green flash of flame. The floor was black marble with veins of white marble and gold running through it. The centre of the room was taken up by a water feature that had a witch, a wizard, and a few other magical races looking up at the witch and wizard with awe and devotion. Privately Harry thought that the only way a goblin would look at a Wix like that would need to involve a severe head injury, or a large bribe and a very gifted goblin actor.

Now that she wasn't queasy from the bus ride, Hermione pulled the instructions from Harry's hand and reread them. "So we just need to present our wands to the welcome witch or wizard, then go to level six." Hermione was talking more to herself than Harry; checking and rechecking was one of Hermione's nervous tics. It normally led Hermione to revise like crazy before any kind of test. Before he had started acting like a total prat in second year, Ron had once joked that Hermione would probably study to pass a blood test. Even Hermione herself laughed at that one. Harry sort of missed Ron, or at least the Ron with whom he had become friends. Ron, as he was now, wasn't someone Harry had any second thoughts about avoiding until he grew up.

The two of them approached the desk that lay between them and the rest of the atrium. A birdish-looking wizard directed them to place their wands on a strange device that looked like half a set of scales. Harry went first.

"Holly wood with a phoenix feather core, 11 ½ inches, in use almost three years," the wizard read off a receipt that had come out of the device. "Is that correct?" Harry told him it was, so the wizard placed the receipt on a spike and handed Harry back his wand.

Hermione went next. "Vine wood with the heart sting of a dragon core, 10 ¾ inches also in use for almost three years. Is that correct?" Hermione answers that it was and the wizard repeated spiking the receipt and returning the wand. "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. I hope whatever your business here today is, goes well."

He didn't sound that welcoming, and as for hope, it sounded like the only thing he hoped for was the end of his shift. He looked at their badges and said, "The Department of Magical Transportation is on Level Six. The lifts are at the far end of the atrium. Have a nice day."

Hermione spied a few leaflets on the desk and took one of each, and the two made their way to the lifts. No one paid any attention to the two random people walking through the ministry, so Harry was able to look around at everything. The walls and ceiling were a smooth arch of black stone that, while not marble like the floor, was polished to a glossy, almost mirror-like shine that reflected back the light of the fires there for people to use with the Floo network. Three massive columns of white marble were placed in a line, running down the centre of the huge room and supporting the ceiling.

Harry and Hermione joined a queue for a lift going up and soon found themselves pressed in with a bunch of strangers in an old fashioned lift that started moving as soon as the door was closed. Soon, the lift stopped, and the same voice from the phone booth said. "Level Seven - Department of Magical Games and Sports, including British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club, and the Ludicrous Patents Office." As soon as the voice ended, the doors slid open, a few people got out, but no one got in. A few paper aeroplanes flew in and started circling at the top of the lift just before the door closed, and the lift started to move again.

Hermione was looking at the paper planes in curiosity. She could see that they had writing on them, but it was impossible to read more than a single word without context. One of the other passengers, a witch who looked to be in her fifties, noticed Hermione eyeing the planes and said, "They're interdepartmental memos, dear. This is your first visit to the ministry I assume?" She smiled.

"Yes, I guess it's obvious I'm looking at everything like some tourist," Hermione admitted.

"Don't worry about it. Everyone is the same on their first trip here. Well, unless they are here because they are in trouble, then they are too worried about themselves to enjoy the experience. I still remember my first trip here when I was twelve and the Gobstones club was hosting a tournament." The older lady reminisced.

"Did you win?" Hermione asked politely.

"Nope. I got knocked out in the second round by an Irish lad, I think his name was Finnegan."

Before the conversation could go further, the lift stopped again and the voice started talking. "Level Six - Department of Magical Transportation, including Floo Network Authority, Broomstick Regularity Control, Portkey Office and Apparition Testing Center."

As the door opened, Hermione said to the witch, "This is my stop. It was nice meeting you." Harry and Hermione stepped out of the lift, a few of the memos following them. The two of them found themselves in a long corridor. There were posters everywhere that said things like -

_'Splinching hurts - only practice apparition with a licenced instructor.'_

_'Unregistered portkeys are a crime - register now or pay the fine.'_

_'Don't forget the Floo powder for the return trip - don't leave yourself stranded.'_

Hermione had their instructions out again. "OK, so according to this we just go to the portkey office, they will have a desk for international travel. We will just have to give them our names and the paperwork we have, they will give us some forms to sign and then give us the portkey."

Harry had read the instructions as well; from most people, Harry would have found Hermione's insurance to go over the instructions thirteen times maddeningly annoying, but he didn't mind when it was her. "Well, according to the sign, the portkey office is this way." Harry pointed to the left.

The portkey office was just that, an office, with a witch or wizard handling each desk. The one for international portkeys was the busiest, and a number of the witches and wizards in the queue were definitely not from the UK. At least that's what Harry asúmed, given that a few of them were talking in a language other than English and their robes were quite different to the ones Harry saw British magicals wearing.

Not only was the queue for international travel the longest, but it was also the slowest moving. Travelling to another country took more paperwork than arranging something that only moved inside the UK. Eventually, it was their turn, and after a quick start from the wizard when he realised it was Harry Potter at his desk, things went smoothly.

"Ok Mr Potter, Miss Granger, most of the paperwork seems to have been filed already. That's unusual, do you know why?"

"We are joining my parents in France, and they did most of the paperwork before they left. We had to wait till school let out before we could go." Hermione half-lied. While nothing she said was untrue, it left the impression that her parents were magical and that they had been in France before Hogwarts had let them go for the year. Harry wondered how successful the misdirection would be, given that _Witch Weekly_ had referred to Hermione as a Muggleborn, but no matter; if the clerk knew or not, he didn't say anything.

"OK, that makes sense to me. All that is left is for the two of you to sign the forms,'' he handed them each a form and a jet black quill. "Have either of you used a blood quill before?" he asked. They said that they hadn't. "Well, no problem. You just sign your name like normal, but instead of ink it will be signed in your own blood. That will embed your magical signature into the parchment. If it were a contract, then it would become magically binding, but this is just a formality form. So all it means is that you understand what is expected of you as a representative of Britain while you are in another country, and that while in another country you are under their laws. It also gives us a magical signature to check you against when you return home. The quill will cut you a little on the back of your hand, but don't worry, it will completely heal in a second or two." With some hesitation, both of them signed their form. It stung a little bit, but Harry was fascinated to see his own name cut into the back of his hand then to heal completely just as quickly, leaving his signature on the parchment in bright red blood that quickly dried to a dark brownish-red.

The parchment glowed red for a few seconds then faded back to normal. "OK, that's all done. You need to take these forms, go through that door there," he indicated a door behind him that had a sign that read _International Departures_. "The next portkey to France is in 35 minutes so you have plenty of time. You will be leaving from departure room four. Enjoy your holiday." With that, the wizard rushed them along so that he could begin helping the American women behind them.

Behind the door was a waiting area with fifty or so chairs that looked like they had been comfortable at some point but definitely weren't any longer. There were seven doors and a list of destinations and times on a label over them. Above the fourth door it read:

_Spain 1:30pm_

_Italy 1:40pm_

_France 1:50pm_

_Germany 2:00pm_

The wait wasn't that long, but with nothing to do it seemed to drag on. Every few minutes a witch would call out a country and say what room it was leaving from, and ask those travelling to make their way to the departure room.

Eventually, she called for the people travelling to France. Harry, Hermione, and a couple of older people that Harry and Hermione assumed were French (given that they were speaking French to each other) made their way through the fourth door and down a small corridor, into a round room with a circle of runes etched into the floor.

"OK, you must be the ten to two group going to France. If you're not going to France, you are in the wrong place, and off you go back the way you can." No one moved. "You probably have done this before, but I need to give you all the speech. You will take this rope," he held up a loop of rope that was blue, white, and red, "and go into that circle on the floor there. Keep one hand firmly holding the rope, and the magic will do the rest. Don't let go until you get to France, else you might get left here and there isn't another portkey till tomorrow. And once you arrive, get out of the landing area quickly. You should have about ten minutes before another group arrives, but there is always the possibility someone screwed up the schedule, and you don't want a group of people landing on you." Harry and Hermione followed the instructions to the letter standing with a strong grip on the rope.

"Hey, Hermione," she looked at him. "Do you think the red, white, and blue rope means that it's going to France or coming from the UK?" It was a pointless question, but he was a little nervous about this new method of travel.

"I don't know. The pattern looks more like the French flag, but it could just be the colours. It's a little silly anyway; red, white, and blue is a very common colour combination for flags: the UK, France and America just to name a few -" Hermione got cut off when they all suddenly felt a pull. It was as if someone had put a hook just behind their belly button and pulled with incredible force. It drew them into a tunnel of wild violent wind that buffeted them on all sides.

Harry couldn't have told you how long it lasted, it could only have been a couple of minutes at most then they were thrown out of the winds and into a huge room with a domed ceiling that must have been fifty feet high in the centre. It was a beautifully decorated room, with white walls and large moving paintings framed with gold-coloured decorative work. It was obviously meant to impress any visitors. However, Harry and Hermione didn't have admiration for classic French decoration on their minds, the two of them were more concerned with the rapidly approaching door and the fact that their heads were spinning too much even to attempt to land on their feet.

As they approached the floor the rope that they were holding slowed down quite a lot. It wasn't enough to stop both Harry and Hermione from crashing to the floor as soon as they landed, but it was sufficient that it was no worse than slipping and falling on your ass. Harry got up quickly so that he could help Hermione to her feet. He was so focused on her that he didn't notice the French ministry official who had approached them until he heard her speak. Of course, she spoke French, so Harry didn't understand a word of it.

"Bienvenue en France. Vous êtes le 14:50 qui vient d'Angleterre?"

"Ouai, c'est nous. Ça fait du bien de revenir." the Frenchman that had traveled with them said.

"Vous allez devoir passer par l'immigration, ensuite vous pourrez rentrez chez vous."

Hermione and the two adults started babbling in French and Harry was utterly lost. But the three of them sounded slightly agitated.

"Désolé, je pensais que vous étiez de la même famille. En attendant, on a toujours besoin de vous faire passer par l'immigration pour la paperasse." the French ministry women sounded almost subdued. Harry was completely lost.

They all started walking towards an exit, the three adults still jabbering in French, so Harry asked Hermione what was going on.

"Oh it's nothing to worry about, The Ministry woman thought that we were with the other two we travelled with. She thought we were all a family." Hermione explained.

They exited the arrivals room and entered a smaller room decorated in the same style. They were split from the adult French couple as signs directed them to different desks, the older couple going to a desk that dealt with people who had French citizenship while Harry and Hermione were directed to a desk conserving visitors.

The paperwork was relatively quick; they handed over their new passports to be stamped and signed a few documents and that was it, apart from the wizard questioning that two teens were going on holiday to a different country without adult supervision. Hermione explained about them meeting her parents in the city as soon as they finished up with the paperwork and that they were just travelling separately. That had been enough to satisfy the bored French wizard who quickly signed off on them entering the content. He also gave them a booklet on notable magical locations and how to access them, which included the information on how and when they needed to return to the French ministry for their return trip to London. Like their British counterparts, the French 'Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France' was underground, and it would have been easy to lose their way if Hermione couldn't read the signs well enough to find the exit.

They took a lift up to the city, and a little more than an hour after they had left home in London the two of them stepped out into the streets of Paris. It took the two of them some time and a map book that Dan had included with their travel paperwork for Hermione to orient where they were in the city. "Oh we're just south of the islands in the middle of the city. And mum said we should meet at the Eiffel Tower, so that's about three kilometres west of here. We just need to figure out how to get there."

"Shouldn't be too hard." Harry mused. "I mean the whole city must be used to people looking for the tower, it is their most famous landmark."

"True but it's only three kilometres, it would be a nice walk," Hermione suggested.

So that's what the two of them did. They spent the early part of the afternoon strolling arm in arm west through the streets of Paris on their way to the Eiffel Tower. Considering how tall the tower was, they had thought finding their way would be easy. However, Paris's combination of narrow streets and buildings three to four stories tall blocked the view. They didn't get to see the tower until they emerged from one street and found a wide-open grassy lawn that led from a river on their right to an impressive old looking building long ways to their left. After that, it was easy to know they were going in the right direction, and they were able to follow the road they were on straight to the tower.

It took them longer to find Emma and Dan than it did to walk from the French Ministry to the tower. The large numbers of people there due to it being the start of summer made the task way more difficult than it needed to be. Once the kids had found Hermione's parents, the four of them took a taxi to another part of the city and checked into a hotel. After an early dinner at the hotel's restaurant, Dan and Emma turned in early after a long day of travel, leaving Harry and Hermione to relax in their room.

A/n

*translation.

"Welcome to France, you are the 2:50 from England, correct?"

"yep, that's us. It's good to be home."

"let's get you and your children through immigration then you can go home."

"My apologies, I just assumed that you were a family. But either way, we still need to get you to immigration and to sort out the paperwork."

Thank You to my beta PHINEAS for his efforts to make my attempts at English readable..and thank you to muffin who helped with the French. You are both amazing!


	48. OM-Ch 03

**re-uploaded with corrections sorry I was operating on n sleep yesterday so I missed a lot Phinus looked it over after I posted it and told me off for not waiting for him but he fixed it now.**

**for anyone who is concerned, I visited my dentist today and he has done a patch-up job on my tooth COVID-19 restrictions stop him using the drill witch it needs but it should hold together for a few months.**

**Chapter 3**

If Harry thought shopping with the Grangers during the Boxing Day sales was a chore, he still would rather have done that five times over than one day shopping in Paris with Emma, Hermione, Sarah, and Alison. Harry knew Emma and Hermione didn't normally go this crazy with shopping, and given the looks that Steven was giving his two girls it wasn't normal behaviour for them either. However, something about the group of them being together in Paris had created some type of monster.

The day had started out calm enough. Harry and Hermione had been woken from their beds by Emma knocking at the door, followed by a calm breakfast of coffee and french pastries. Harry was just finishing his second croissant when Hermione jumped up from the table and threw herself at a group of people who had just walked in, pulling all three of them into hugs that were soon followed by that weird French air-kissing greeting with the two women that Harry had heard about but hadn't seen until now.

Dan and Emma, after watching Hermione's exuberant greeting for a few seconds, went to greet the man and two women that Hermione was hanging off. Harry guessed that the man was Steven the chef that she had told him about, who had moved to France to learn French cooking and had stayed after meeting a woman whom he married. Harry trailed behind the two older Granger's feeling awkward.

"Steve! Sara! Alison. Long time no see." Dan said.

He was pulled into a hug by Steven as he said, "Dan my man. How's everything going? The patients still biting?"

"Only the little ones. You stopped slicing open your fingers instead of the meat yet?" The two had the banter of old friends who easily fell back into old habits with each other.

While that was going on, Emma (after also doing the cheek kiss with the two women) was talking with Sarah; unfortunately, they were using a mixture of English and French that Harry just couldn't follow, but the two seemed to be getting along. Hermione was talking to the younger of the two women, excitedly catching up. Harry was left awkwardly standing a little apart from them while they were all caught in greeting each other, but it gave Harry a chance to take in the three.

Steven was a light-haired stocky man, who looked like a rugby player that had let go of himself a little. The two women were obviously mother and daughter, they both had long straight brown hair and matching eyes, and they also both had the build of runners. If Harry had to guess he would say the daughter was about 16-17, so she was probably in whatever the French school system had instead of comprehensive school.

After a few minutes Hermione got around to introducing Harry to everyone. "Harry, this is Uncle Steve, you remember I told you about him moving to France when we went to the Skinners Arms?"

Harry shook the man's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr…?"

"Tucker but call me Steve. No need to stand on ceremony."

Hermione continued. "This is Sarah. She met Uncle Steve when she used to go to the restaurant he was working at."

"It's a pleasure madam."

"Please call me Sarah. Any friend of Hermione's is a friend to us." It was a little awkward for a second as Harry automatically went to shake her hand and she went to do the French air-kissing thing. After a quick double air kiss Harry was introduced to the youngest of the Tuckers.

"And this is Alison." Hermione beamed.

"It's Ali." She said before Harry could say anything. This time Harry was better prepared for the kissing but considering Ali's giggle he didn't get it quite right. "You English you are never prepared for 'la bise'."

"Uncle Steve, Sarah, Ali, this is Harry, my best friend and boyfriend." Hermione finished.

"Bonjour."

"Nice to meet you."

"Enchantée."

They switched to a larger table and the seven of them sat and finished their breakfast. When the Tuckers got some breakfast, Hermione took the opportunity to get herself a third croissant while Dan good-naturedly grumbled about her teeth. Over breakfast the topic of conversation turned to their plans for the day, which could be summarized with one word. Shopping.

Because Harry and the Grangers hadn't had the opportunity to go shopping for holiday clothes between getting home from school and then leaving for their holiday, it made some sense to Harry that they would need some new clothes. However, listening to the two older women plan, they definitely were looking for more than they could wear in a month, let alone the ten days that they were staying in France. By the time they had hit their fourth store, Harry understood. They weren't just shopping for their holiday; they were doing the type of clothes shopping he had done with Hermione last summer, getting most of the clothes that he would be wearing for the next year. Only they weren't shopping for just him this time, but all seven of them.

It turns out that the Tuckers lived in Nice, which was where they were all going tomorrow. Originally it was planned that they would meet the Tuckers there, but when Emma had told Sarah on the phone that she planned a shopping trip in Paris first, the plans had changed and the shopping trip from hell was born. It wasn't completely terrible, though. While on one hand he had tried on an ungodly amount of clothes that he apparently had to model for the woman because his opinion wasn't good enough, he also got to see Hermione model just as much for him.

**_-ϟϟϟ-_**

Harry collapsed on his bed almost as soon as he was in the room. He was all types of exhausted. He was physically drained from all the walking and carrying of bags. He was mentally drained from all the decisions asked of him, such as Hermione asking him his opinion between two items of clothing she was considering for herself when he honestly didn't have an opinion.

Lastly he was emotionally wiped out from a fight he had had with Dan and Emma. Harry had tried to get the receipts for his clothes because he fully intended to pay the Grangers back every penny for them. Dan and Emma had taken offence to that idea and the three of them had had a fight over it once the Tuckers had checked into their own hotel room to wind down for a while, before the two families went out for dinner.

From Dan and Emma's point of view, they were the adults responsible and money wasn't a problem for them, so they would pay. Harry, however, was adamant that he didn't want to be a burden on them. They had already done so much for him when they opened their home to him, they didn't need him taking their money as well. Hermione had been caught in the middle.

In the end Emma had done something Harry had never experienced before: she pulled the "I'm the mum" card. She hadn't used the word mum but it was implied and she told Harry he was to keep his money for after he was done with school. She said he wasn't going to spend his inheritance on living until he was an adult and responsible for his own finances. From now on, just like Hermione, they would be buying his clothes, books, and school supplies. Harry was going to be treated like a regular teenager and he would just have to get used to it.

The whole argument had left him feeling confused. He was so used to being made to take care of himself that it was easy to forget that most thirteen-almost-fourteen-year-old children didn't need to do that. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. Hermione came into the room they were sharing and after putting her bags on her bed sat down next to Harry.

Hermione broke the silence after almost a minute. "Hey."

"Hey."

"So that was a little rough."

Harry snorted at the understatement.

Hermione relented. "OK, it was very rough. How are you feeling?"

"I don't know." And he really didn't, the whole thing was so confusing to him. "Are your parents still pissed at me?"

"Harry I don't think they were ever angry at you to begin with. They are upset with the situation, not you. Mum made a good point Harry you are fourteen-

"Not till a week next Sunday."

Hermione laid herself on the bed next to him. As it was a single, they were touching in a few places. "Close enough Harry. You're fourteen, you shouldn't have to worry about money like that. Most people our age just need to worry about budgeting our pocket money."

Harry slid over to the side of the bed giving Hermione a bit more room. "I don't want to be a burden on your parents. They have already done so much for me, I don't want to become a parasite just bleeding your family dry."

She frowned. "OK Harry stop that talk now. That's not you, that's your uncle talking and you know it. Both my parents have high paying jobs, and until now only me to pay for. I don't know the ins and outs of my parents' financial situation, but I know enough that they don't need to worry. They aren't rich but we are comfortable."

"But they shouldn't have to spend their money on me. I can pay for myself. It's not fair on them." Harry wanted Hermione to understand. "It just feels wrong to take their money."

Hermione went quiet for a few minutes thinking before she replied. "You aren't taking their money though. They are choosing to spend it on you. That's what families do Harry, they look after each other. And that's what you are now, family. That means we help each other. Sometimes you are the one being helped but sometimes you are also the one helping us. Just think of all the times you helped me; you saved my life from that troll-"

Harry interrupted "You saved me as well."

Hermione continued "You stayed with me after the Polyjuice incident-"

"That you were only in because I was accused of being the Heir of Slytherin."

"Nope. I'm a Muggleborn, I was in danger already. I wanted to help myself as well as you. You helped me with my furry little problem."

"Yeah, because I love you and you needed help."

Hermione smiled. "That's my point exactly, Harry. You just need to remember help goes both ways. Mum and dad want to help you. It's now your turn to be helped."

"I doubt they want to help me anymore after how I shouted at them."

Hermione pulled Harry's head onto her chest and started to gently run her fingers through his mop of hair. "Oh Harry, if you think a little tiff like that is going to change anything, you really don't understand family at all."

She looked a little embarrassed as she continued. "I once had an argument with my parents that lasted weeks, all because the other kids in school got to eat so many sweets and I wasn't allowed any. I was screaming at them every chance I got for days over wanting sweets. You shouted at them for ten minutes because you wanted to pay for your clothes instead of leaving them out of pocket. Trust me everything is going to be fine."

The two of them laid together for a while without saying anything, taking an hour to recharge.

**_-ϟϟϟ-_**

Harry and Hermione left their room dressed for dinner. Hermione had instead that they dress up, so Harry was wearing a dark sports jacket despite the heat while Hermione was wearing a light blue summer dress. Hermione disappeared into her parents' room looking for her mum, while Harry was left standing in the room's sitting area with Dan."

"Hey Dan," said Harry awkwardly as he remembered the fight from only an hour ago.

"Hey kid, how are you doing? Calmed down now?" Dan asked.

The question was gentle and not accusatory but it still made Harry feel terrible. "Yeah. I'm uh - sorry for earlier, I shouldn't have shouted at you and Emma like that. The two of you have done so much for me you deserve way better from me. I understand if you want me to move out."

Harry was babbling on until Dan put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, it's OK. You're not going anywhere. Yes, you weren't the best behaved earlier, it's not OK to shout and scream like that. At least unless something really big is happening." Harry felt even more guilty but Dan carried on talking.

"However, Emma and I didn't exactly handle it well either. Once the two of us calmed down, we were able to look at it from your point of view. And while we are right about the money, teenagers shouldn't have to worry about money like that, it was inevitable that you would feel like you were taking advantage of us and you would try to fight back."

"But I don't want to be a parasite on your family's finances." Despite Hermione's words, his uncle's old description of him came easily from his lips.

Dan looked Harry over and gave a small nod as if he realized something. "Harry you need to understand something. You are a person, not a burden, and in no way a parasite. Emma and I know how to manage our budget, you don't need to worry. Now let's just agree that we were all a little out of line, we are all sorry, and all three of us will try to do better in the future. Is that OK with you?"

Not really knowing what to say, Harry just nodded.

"Good, well now that that is all sorted out why don't we get a move on." Harry jumped at the sound from behind him and found Emma and Hermione both standing behind him ready to Leave.

"We are supposed to meet the Tuckers in the lobby in…" Emma checked her watch. "Seven minutes." She finished off.

"Emma I'm sorry about earlier. I should not have shouted at you like that."

"It's nothing Harry. Sometimes families fight. It happens, we forgive and move on. Let's go before we are late."

The four of them left the room and made their way towards the lobby, where they were expecting to meet the Tuckers. However, the two families bumped into each other on the stairs and continued down together.

Steven picked the restaurant, as he had an old colleague who was working there and he wanted to check in on how she was doing. Harry was a little surprised when they got to the restaurant because they were seated at a table on the street instead of inside the building. However, seeing how everyone else just accepted it, he assumed that was just one of the things they did in Paris.

Once they were seated and a server had taken their orders, they sat chatting as they waited for their food. Mostly the conversation was about their day shopping, until Alison broached a new topic.

"So Harry, how did you meet Hermione then?" she asked before she took a sip of wine. While her accent was definitely French, she didn't have the problem pronouncing the H at the beginning of words that TV had taught him to expect.

"We go to the same boarding school. We shared all our classes for the first two years and still share most of them." Harry answered.

"And the two of you became firm friends instantly, I bet?" Alison smiled, obviously picturing some love at first sight scene.

"Nope, Harry and I didn't become friends for almost two months." Hermione answered while munching on a breadstick.

"Yeah I was a total ass for the first two months." Harry looked sadly at his lap, still a little guilty that he hadn't stopped Ron from bad-mouthing her.

"He wasn't that bad. There were a few that were but Harry just sort of didn't get involved."

"_All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing_," Steven quoted. All the Tuckers were now focused on Harry, but he just nodded in agreement.

"So how _did_ you become friends?" Sarah asked.

Hermione decided she would answer this question. "Well I was alone using the uh… facilities in a part of the school away from everyone else. It was Halloween, so most students were at the school's Halloween party. A stray dog got into the school. The teachers moved all the students to the common rooms so they could deal with the dog, but I didn't know about it and neither did Harry. Harry found me cornered by this dog that was bigger than I was, and he saved me by making the dog chase him instead. Then I stopped the dog chasing Harry, and when it turned back to me Harry jumped on it and managed to accidentally knock it out. After that, we were friends," Hermione explained.

She was using the same explanation that Harry had given to Hermione's grandmother Jean. Harry and Hermione had talked once Jean had gone home, and he filled her in on his alterations in their story. Hermione had agreed that it was as close to the truth that they were likely to get, when telling their story to non-magical people.

"_Mon dieu! _You were attacked by a dog? Are you OK?" Alison seemed so worried about Hermione that she forgot that the incident was about two and a half years ago.

"Calm down Ali. It was ages ago, and I didn't even get bit. Don't get me wrong, it was scary as hell while it was happening, but I was completely fine."

The conversation continued for a while. Harry and Hermione talked about how the two of them got together, as well as a few things that had happened since. Hermione changed her potions accident to a case of flu, to cover why Harry was sitting with her in the hospital wing over Christmas.

Ali found Harry reading to Hermione while she couldn't read to herself was brilliant. "It shows that you paid attention to Hermione. You know what to do to make her feel better. That's better than some uh…ignorant bloke?" Ali stumbled over the phrasing in English.

"Typical bloke." Steven helped her.

"Thanks Papa, better than some typical bloke who thinks that a bunch of flowers fixes everything."

Harry was uncomfortably reminded of the fight he and Hermione had had earlier in the year. When Hermione had barely been talking to him, he had sent flowers then. Hermione wasn't the kind of person who appreciated flowers. Books yes, sugar quills definitely, even if she would never admit it. Tracey had pretty much said the same thing about flowers. Flowers said that you don't have any better ideas.

Ali continued chatting with Harry and Hermione most of the night. Harry learned that Ali also attended a boarding school, she was in her final year and was hoping to start learning medicine once she graduated, and like Hermione she loved books. Ali was actually similar to Hermione in a lot of ways. They both had an act now type of personality once they had decided that something needs doing, and they both had a similar sense of humour. It was easy to see how the two got on as well as they did.

Not that Ali was a copy of Hermione, in some ways the two were very different. While Hermione was more introverted and preferred smaller groups of people, from the stories Ali was telling she was more comfortable being in large groups of her friends. Another difference was that Ali apparently loved to look her best as often as possible, whereas Hermione was always careful to look presentable but didn't bother with really dressing up unless there was some type of occasion.

Dinner continued for a while as Harry got to know the Tuckers. Steven was interested in the fact that Harry could cook and the two spent a good twenty minutes swapping recipes and cooking tips. Harry enjoyed getting some recipes and cooking tips from an actual chef.

As well as Harry got on with Ali and Steven (_call me Steve_), he didn't quite click with Sarah. He didn't know why, Sarah hadn't been rude or anything, and she hadn't said anything that rubbed Harry the wrong way. On the contrary, she had been polite and friendly. However, Harry couldn't quite slip into easy conversation with her like he could with her husband and daughter.

**_-ϟϟϟ-_**

Hermione bit her lip in indecision while Harry changed in the bathroom but nodded to herself as she came to a decision and sat cross legged on the foot of Harry's bed, waiting for Harry to get back. It took Harry a few minutes as he not only needed to change but to brush his teeth a little extra. When he came back into the room, Hermione saw the look of surprise that flashed over his face for a moment before his face settled into a more neutral look.

Hermione could understand that, she was wearing a new pale blue night dress that was quite a bit more appealing to look at than the thick pajama bottoms and spaghetti-strap crop top she wore to bed while they were at Hogwarts. She and Ali had picked it up earlier; the male half of the group had been sent off for a while to do something else while the women visited a couple of shops that were women's specialty.

"Harry, can we talk?" Hermione tried not to sound nervous but doubted she pulled it off.

Harry stiffened almost like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. "Uh OK. Have I done something wrong?"

Hermione inwardly cursed; this was exactly why she had been putting off this talk. She didn't want Harry to get the wrong idea. "No! You haven't done anything wrong. I… I just… I have kept a few things from you and I need to be honest with you."

Harry relaxed visibly but Hermione felt her tension reach new heights. He sat on the bed as well, there was no room next to her so he sat in front of her, mirroring her crossed legs and facing her. "OK, well whatever it is, I bet you have a good reason to keep it to yourself till now."

"Well, first is…" Hermione hesitated for almost 5 seconds before she continued. "I'm bisexual, Harry, that means I like boys like you, but I also like girls, and I don't want you to misunderstand, I still love you but I don't want to keep this from you anymore." Hermione only stopped the run-on sentence because she ran out of air and needed to take a deep breath.

Before she could continue Harry started talking. "Mione, calm down a bit. It's OK, as long as you haven't cheated then I don't care if you also have a crush on someone else. It happens," he looked a little uncertain for a second before he steeled himself. "I notice other girls occasionally, but I still love you and want to be with you. So you notice both boys and girls, it doesn't matter. What matters is if we are both happy together. Anything else is nothing compared to that." He watched her looking for her reaction.

When Harry mentioned noticing other girls Hermione's first thought was anger. But Harry was right, noticing other people was normal. She couldn't get upset with Harry for that when, if she was honest with herself, she did the same. Harry was right. If they were happy nothing else mattered. And it seems as far as Harry was concerned that includes if she also likes girls.

Hermione practically leapt at Harry, pushing him onto his back and into the bed and enveloping him in her arms as he fell backwards. She could feel some of the tension she had been carrying for so long flowing from her shoulders. She pressed herself into Harry and started to kiss him. She could feel herself waking up, her fear of Harry breaking up with her at hearing about how she also likes women replaced by relief and a little lust. Harry tried to put his arms around her as well, but her arms were wrapped around the top of his so he could only move them below the elbow. All he could do was put his hands on her hips.

"Hermione, you said there were multiple things you needed to talk about," Harry said when she broke the kiss for air.

At first the words didn't hold any meaning to Hermione. She was too focused on kissing Harry to understand much. "What?"

"As enticing as this is, trust me a part of me hates me right now for stopping you, you said you had things we need to talk about. We only talked about one thing."

Hermione let out a groan of frustration. Harry was right, and considering how she felt right now, she needed to have the conversation with Harry now before she pushed too far too quickly. She climbed off Harry, feeling her tail flicking back and forth in its sock. She would have taken it off when she got ready for bed, but her new sleepwear didn't have accommodation for her tail so she had had to keep the sock on.

She pushed Harry over and laid down next to him. It wasn't like when they were 12-13 in the hospital wing, where the two of them could easily fit on a single. Nor were the beds in the cramped Parisian hotel anywhere near as big as the four poster beds in the Gryffindor dorms. While the two of them fit side by side, there was no room to move at all.

"You're right, there is something else that we need to talk about. It's going to be embarrassing so don't interrupt me till I'm finished." Hermione went on to tell Harry about the aspect of her transformation that she had kept secret from as many people as she could. She told him about going into heat, how up until now she took potions to suppress her lust and why she had had to stop. To his credit, Harry didn't once interrupt her. He just took hold of her hand and held it while she talked, both of them staring at the ceiling above them.

"So, what do you want to do about it?" Harry's question was like Hermione's explanation, blunt and to the point.

Hermione could understand that. If Harry's face was blushing as red as hers felt right now, being charming was probably beyond him right now. "Well, it sort of depends on you, Harry, how do you feel about taking our relationship to the next level?"

"I don't know. It's a big step. A part of me is all for it, but then that part of me never seems to want anything else. What would we do if you got pregnant? We don't have jobs or any way to make money. I may have joked about it in Gringotts last year, but I know that the money my parents left me won't last long past paying for my Hogwarts tuition and books. Though it will probably go further now, because your parents are paying for my books and clothes. But if there was a baby to pay for, it wouldn't last long at all."

Hermione wasn't surprised that Harry thought about kids first, with his desire for a real family of his own. She was glad though that he could see the downside as well. "I'm taking a contraceptive potion every cycle; it's 99.9% effective and I have some for you as well. Although the one for guys only lasts thirteen days, it's 99.9% effective as well, so there's only about one in a million chance I'd get pregnant."

"You got potions for me too?"

"I want to have kids someday Harry, but I definitely want to finish my N.E.W.T. exams first and I'd like to get a mastery as well. So yes, I got you potions as well so that if we…we… if we start having sex I don't get pregnant until we are ready."

"Is it something you are ready for?"

"I think so. The Kneazle that the hair came from was an adult, so it pushed that part of me to be more mature. Not older, just further along with that stuff."

"How long until your next..." he didn't need to finish the sentence for her to understand."

"Not until after your birthday so you have some time to think about it." Hermione tried not to be disappointed that Harry didn't just jump to wanting to make love to her. It was a big thing to decide.

"I love you Mione, I don't need to think about it. I just need a bit of time to get used to the idea. It's a big change."

Hermione squeezed his hand that was holding hers. "Love you too Harry."

"Now that I'm thinking about our relationship, isn't it a little weird? I mean considering how old we are. I'm not even fourteen yet but we've been together for a long time. Don't most teenagers have much shorter relationships?" Harry voiced his thoughts.

"It's not common but it does happen. Why? Are you thinking of breaking up with me?" Hermione asked. She was trying for light-hearted joking with the question, but something in her tone said that Harry's answer mattered more than she wanted to admit.

Harry sat up and pulled her up until she was sitting next to him and he pulled her into his arms. "Hermione, listen to me for one second. I do not want to break up with you. Never have, and I'm starting to think I never will. I love you with everything that I have. I promise you I was just thinking about how unusual our relationship is. Just because something is different doesn't mean I want it to end. You are the best thing in my life. A bright warm light in a world that is far too full of the cold and the dark-"

Harry was cut off by Hermione as his mouth was suddenly occupied by hers. Harry had said so many wonderful things, now she was going to continue where she left off before the second embarrassing conversation of the night.

**A/N**

sorry, this chapter took so long I don't really have an excuse I just haven't been writing much because I got hooked on a few fics I was reading and some computer games.

for everyone who has been following me complaining about toothache and not being able to sort it during Carona well I finally have an appointment to see my dentist crossed he can do something about it because I think it needs drilling and my dentist can't do that during Carona (something about flying bits of infected tooth and saliva) honestly right now I wish I could just jump in my fic and go see the doctors granger, lol

help pay my dental bill? pay pal dot me fs lowten86


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